시리아군, 반군 근거지 공습…사망자 최소 44명

Published : Dec 23, 2013 - 10:02 Updated : Dec 23, 2013 - 10:08

시리아군, 반군 공습…최소 44명 사망 (AP)

시리아 정부군이 반군 근거지를 공습해 최소 44명이 숨졌으며, 시아파 지역의 한 초등학교 인근에서는 자살 폭탄 테러가 발생, 최소 20명이 사망했다고 국영 SANA통신과 시리아인권관측소(SOHR) 등이 22일(현지시간) 밝혔다.

라미 압델라흐만 SOHR 대표는 시리아 정부군이 시리아 북부 최대 도시 알레포의 시장 등을 공습, 어린이 6명과 의료진 등 최소 44명이 목숨을 잃었으며 17명이 심하게 다쳤다고 밝혔다.

SOHR는 정부군이 알레포에서 반군이 장악하고 있는 사쿠르와 아흐마디에, 바이딘, 아르드 알함라, 하나노 지역 등에 산발적으로 공습을 가하며 TNT폭탄을 투하했다고 말했다.

알레포는 지난해 여름 이후 정부군과 반군이 분할해 장악하고 있다.

현지 시민기자들로 이루어진 '알레포 미디어 센터'는 "공중에서 투하된 폭탄이 버스를 폭파해 모두 죽었다. 차량 10대와 주거용 건물도 파괴했다"면서 "32명이 사망했고 병원마다 부상자로 가득 찼다"고 전했다.

정부군의 공습이 오후에도 계속되고 있어 아직 정확한 희생자 숫자는 확인되지 않는 실정이다.

SOHR은 정부군이 지난 일주일 동안 알레포의 반군 근거지를 계속해서 공습해 200명 이상의 사망자를 냈다고 비난했다.

바샤르 알아사드 정권 지지자들이 거주하는 지역에서는 자살 폭탄 테러로 인해 수십 명의 민간인 사상자가 발생했다.

SANA 통신은 알아사드 정권의 근간인 시아파가 거주하는 시리아 중부 홈스주(州) 움 알아메드 지역의 한 초등학교 외부에서 폭탄을 실은 트럭이 폭발해 민간인 20명이 목숨을 잃었다고 보도했다.

통신은 사망한 희생자의 대부분이 어린이들이었으며, 많은 사람들이 심하게 다쳤다고 덧붙였다.

반면 SOHR은 트럭을 이용한 자살 폭탄 테러로 인한 인명 희생자는 어린이 5명을 포함해 모두 12명이라고 밝혔다. 이는 SANA통신이 밝힌 사상자 20명과 적잖은 차이를 보이는 것이다.

시리아 바샤르 알아사드 정권은 이슬람 소수 종파인 시아파의 지지를 받고 있으며, 시리아 반군은 주로 수니파로 이뤄져 있다. (연합뉴스)

<관련영문기사>

Government airstrikes kill at least 32 in Syria

Syrian aircraft pummeled an opposition neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, killing at least 32 people and extending the government's furious aerial bombardment of the rebel-held half of the divided city to an eighth consecutive day.

Since it began on Dec. 15, the government's unusually heavy air campaign in Aleppo has killed more than 200 people, smashed residential buildings and overwhelmed the city's hospitals with casualties. The timing of the assault _ a month ahead of planned peace talks in Switzerland _ suggests that Syrian President Bashar Assad could be trying to strengthen his position and expose the opposition's weaknesses before sitting down at the negotiating table.

Sunday's air raids targeted Aleppo's Masaken Hanano neighborhood, hitting a second-hand market, a two-story building and a main road, activists said.

The Aleppo Media Center activist group said at least 32 people were killed, and published a list of the names of the dead on its Facebook page. Another group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said in a later statement that at least 44 people were killed and dozens wounded.

``The medics say they are removing people in parts; they aren't sure how many there are,'' said Hassoun Abu Faisal, an activist with the Aleppo Media Center. He said the bombs destroyed vehicles lining a main road, destroyed a two-story building and left a crater where part of the market was.

Activists said the airstrikes were carried out by government helicopters that dropped so-called barrel bombs, crude devices filled with explosives and fuel that are wildly inaccurate but cause massive damage on impact.

Human rights groups warn that even if Syrian forces are targeting rebels with the bombs, they often explode in residential areas, killing civilians.

In an amateur video posted online, a man held up to the camera a severed foot from the air raids, while crowds scrambled among rubble, hoarsely shouting ``God is Great!'' as they came across corpses. Flames and dust from the smashed building and cars darkened the sky. One man rhythmically smashed a hammer against a jammed door of a vehicle containing charred bodies.

The videos appeared genuine and corresponded with other Associated Press reporting of the events depicted.

In the town of Marea north of Aleppo, a barrel bomb that exploded near a school used by Syrian fleeing fighting in other areas killed three members of the same family, according to Abu Faisal and the Observatory.

Schools decided to close Monday in opposition-held parts of Aleppo to avoid more casualties, citing Sunday's attacks in Marea, the Aleppo Media Center reported.

Syrian officials have not commented on the air raids in Aleppo, the country's largest city, and a major front in the war since the rebels launched an offensive there in mid-2012. The city has been carved into opposition- and government-held areas.

Syria's civil war, now into its third year, has killed more than 120,000 people, according to activists. Millions have fled their homes because of the fighting.

In central Syria, a suicide bomber blew himself up near a primary school in the predominantly Shiite town of Umm al-Amed in Homs province, killing at least 12 people, half of them children, the Observatory said.

Syria's state news agency put the death toll at 20, including six children. It wasn't immediately possible to reconcile the conflicting tolls.

The bombing highlighted the sectarian overtones of the Syrian civil war, which is now in its third year.

Syria's rebels are mainly Sunni, with hard-line brigades emerging as the most powerful fighting groups. Shiites and other Syrian minority groups have either stayed neutral or sided with President Bashar Assad, fearing for their future should the rebels prevail. Groups on both sides have targeted civilians.

Also Sunday, Syrian military aircraft bombed Bab al-Hawa, a border crossing to Turkey, said a private Turkish news agency, Dogan, and the Aleppo Media Center and the Local Coordinating Committees, two activist networks.

The news agency said the bombs hit the Syrian side of the crossing, killing or wounding several people, and that several ambulances from the Turkish town of Reyhanli were heading to the border gate to carry the wounded to hospitals. It was not immediately clear why the area was targeted. (AP)