Syrian missiles kill children, says Human Rights Watch

The Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad has killed civilians and children in what appear to be indiscriminate ballistic missile attacks on populated areas, according the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

At least 215 people, including 100 children, have been killed in nine attacks in the last six months, the rights group reported Monday, saying these missiles "are hitting populated areas, causing large numbers of civilian deaths, including many children."

“You cannot distinguish between civilians and fighters when you fire ballistic missiles which have a wide-area effect into populated residential areas,” said Ole Solvang, Human Rights Watch's senior emergencies researcher.

“Even if there are fighters in the area, you cannot accurately target them and the impact in some of these cases has been devastating to local civilians,” he added.

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The attacks occurred in Bab Nairab, Kafr Hamreh, Raqqa city, Tal Rif, Hreitan Ma'dan, and neighborhoods in the strategically placed northern city of Aleppo, including Tariq al-Bab, Ard al-Hamra and Jabal Abro. In some cases, there were no military targets immediately apparent.

It's unclear exactly what kind of ballistic missiles were used, but Human Rights Watch said the government has stockpiles of "Scud missiles, variants of Scud missiles, SS-21 Tochka missiles, and Luna-M missiles," citing the International Institute of Strategic Studies' Military Balance 2011.

Researchers spoke with activists and residents at attack sites, including one man who said his entire family had been killed. 

"He said that Hassan Yassin, his wife, and their seven children, all minors, died in the attack. Yassin and his family were at home during the attack," the group reported.

More than 100,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in Syria's brutal civil war, and millions more have been displaced by the fighting between various rebel factions and Assad's troops.

Some of Syria's wounded children are receiving care outside the country. GlobalPost made an exclusive visit to Nahariya, Israel's Western Galilee Hospital to meet several of them in early August.