On October 8, 2023, Syrian regime forces used a rocket launcher to fire incendiary munitions with similar effects to those of internationally prohibited napalm, targeting al-Abzemou town in western rural Aleppo governorate. The attack injured three civilians, and caused multiple fires in the town.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that these attacks are of a retaliatory nature, with the regime ordering intensified bombardment of these areas in response to a bombing that targeted the regime’s Military College in Homs city on October 5, 2023.
Through indiscriminate or deliberate bombardment, the Syrian regime has violated international humanitarian law, as it failed to distinguish between civilian and military targets. SNHR has recorded the use of incendiary weapons in hundreds of attacks against civilian areas, which caused severe burn injuries, and are a source of threat and terror for residents, especially children. The international community must intervene to protect civilians in Syria and act decisively to put an end to the use of such barbaric incendiary weapons.
