Baladi News – Aleppo (Hassan al-Obaid)
Military analyst at Baladi News, Rani Jaber, revealed that the missiles that had been fired on the districts of al-Furqan and Aziziya in Aleppo city are only owned by the Syrian regime forces based on the photos posted by pro- regime Facebook pages, of the missiles used in the shelling.
Jabir said, “These are 220 mm cluster missiles fired from BM-27 launchers, which are exclusively owned by the Syrian regime.”
The analyst pointed out that such missiles are among the weapons that are forbidden to the rebels’ factions, and no reports indicated that the rebels had obtained or used any of them at all. These missiles have a long range of 35 km and a close range of 8500 meters, “which makes them impossible to be fired from the liberated districts of Aleppo as the regime claims. The missiles were absolutely launched from the regime held areas outside Aleppo city.”
It is noteworthy that the regime-held neighborhoods in Aleppo city underwent missile shelling that killed over 20 civilians. Soon after, the regime hurried to accuse the Syrian revolution factions of the attacks.
Leader of the military operations room of "Army of Mujahideen" in al-Rashideen district, Amin Malhis, said that “the Free Syrian Army does not have the missiles and shells that were used to bomb Aziziya and al-Fqan districts.” The speaker considered civilians the nurturing environment of the revolution, so it would be impossible to target them under any circumstances. He also accused the regime of perpetrating this incident in order to justify the blockade of half a million people in the eastern districts of Aleppo.
Commander Malhis revealed that the regime deliberately attacks civilian lacations including hospitals, schools, and even mosques in the liberated areas, and kills civilians. So, it would not be strange if it targeted areas under its controll to accuse the rebels and obtain political gains, emphasizing that the rebels have not targeted any civilian areas over the years of revolution
The speaker added that the regime never respects either international conventions or its promises. Had it respected them, it would not have violated the truce that it initiated, during which it killed dozens in airstrikes on the Syrian cities during the Bairam.
The leader indicated that the Free Syrian Army defends the civilians, whether in the liberated or in the regime-held areas. He also revealed that it only attacks military targets and warns civilians to stay away from them while achieving such operations in the cities.