Video Shows A Member Of The Syrian Opposition Cutting Flesh Of A Corpse, And Apparently Eating It

Frequently during the Syrian conflict there's been videos that claim to show either side committing some sort of war crimes or atrocity.  As a general rule I avoid writing about these videos because there's always claims about fakery, a lack of detail beyond what's shown in the video, and so on.

However, a video has been posted today on pro-Assad channels which presents a rare occasion where it's possible gather much more information about the person involved.

The following video shows a man cutting a chuck of flesh, possible an organ, from a corpse, then biting down onto the chunk of flesh at the end of the video (GRAPHIC)

I've had the audio translated (thanks to @Syrian_scenes), rather than relying on the subtitles attached to the video

I swear by God, we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog! Takbeer! Heroes of Baba 'Amr, [inaudible] cut out their hearts to eat them!

As I said before, generally I can't do much with these videos, but in this example I instantly recognised the man wearing that distinctive jacket as appearing in other videos produced by the Independent Omar Farouk Brigades, based around Homs

In the first video he gives a short speech, which I've translated, and also allows us to match the voices in both videos to the same person

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate: The Umar al-Faruq Battalion is striking the strongholds of the Shabbiha and the Assadist Army in the village of Abel. Takbeer!

Peter N. Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch has been able to confirm the name of the man in the videos as Abu Sakkar of Baba Amro, Homs, also known as Khaled Al Hamad, a former senior figure in Al Farouq Brigade.

It's unclear how the Independent Omar Farouk Brigades is related to the Free Syrian Army, whether or not it works inside the command structure (as it is), or considers itself independent, but it does raise the question that when people are identified in videos like this what can anyone actually do about it during the conflict?

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Grads Join Scuds And Incendiary Bombs In The Latest Escalation Of The Syrian Conflict

In the past month those of us tracking the use of arms in the Syrian conflict have noted a fresh escalation in the conflict.  We've seen RBK cluster bombs deployed with ZAB incendiary munitions along with ZAB-100-105 incendiary bombs, as well as reports of Scud missiles being used.  One other part of this apparent new escalation is the increasingly widespread use of BM-21 Grad rocket launchers, shown here in a clip leaked from Assad's forces firing from Bosra al-Hareer, Daara

BM-21 Grad's can be loaded with 40 rockets, which can be fired of ranges between 20-40km depending on the rocket, and while they've made the occasional rare appearance in the conflict it seems they are being used on an increasing basis, with a couple of examples of missile remnants from the Idlib and Aleppo regions pictured below

A number of more recent videos have been posted showing unexploded missiles, giving us a clear look at what they look like

It's been claimed in some of these videos that these are Iranian Saqr rockets, but the below logo present in each video suggests another source

The logo belongs to the Egpytian Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI), which states on it's website

- The Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) is one of the largest industrial organizations in Egypt.
- It is State-owned and enjoys an international status that gives it complete flexibility in decision-making.
- AOI strategies are drawn by a Supreme Committee whose Chairman is the President of Egypt and whose membership comprises several Cabinet ministers.

On this link you see some of the military products it creates, including 122mm rocket systems.

In Human Rights Watch's April 2011 report on the use of Grad rockets on civilian areas in the Libyan Civil War Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director at Human Rights Watch states that "the Soviet-made Grad in particular is one of the world's most inaccurate rocket systems and should never be fired in areas with civilians" and goes on to say "firing indiscriminately into civilian areas is a clear violation of the laws of war", something there appears to be increasing evidence of in Syria.

Related Articles
How to Build an Army in Your Basement - Even More DIY Weapons
Are Assad's Forces Using IEDs In Syria?
Unexploded Bombs Used In A Truck Bomb By Jabhat al-Nusra  
Clear Evidence Of DIY Barrel Bombs Being Used By The Syrian Air Force
Unexploded Cluster Bomblets Repurposed As DIY Rocket Warheads
Improving Syrian Oppositon Armaments Demonstrated During The Taftanaz Airbase Attack

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

New Cluster Bomb Evidence Emerges From Syria

Following on from my earlier post on cluster bombs in Syria and the HRW report on that followed my investigations another video has emerged showing what maybe the same cluster bomb shown in the earlier video (translation via DamascusTribune)

The bomb in this video seems to have the same markings and same damage to it as the bomb in the earlier video.  It's appears the locals moved the bomb casing and bomblets to another location (which is extremely dangerous and really not recommended) so they could film the bomb in a better light.  This really only provides more evidence that one bomb has possibly been used so far.  It's interesting to note that according to Janes this bomb should contain 150 bomblets of the type displayed, yet it appears around 20 were recovered, with fragments of some at the top of the frame near the start of the video.  It may indicate that the remaining bomblets did detonate. 

Aside from the above video there's been a great deal of discussion about the earlier video, with CJ Chivers writing a very informative post on his blog looking at the reports on the the cluster bombs in Syria, and why it's important if they are being used. 

There was also another video posted that claimed to be a cluster bomb deployed in Daraa, and this post examines one of the main reason that I and other believe the explosions in the video are more likely caused by a volley of rockets. Update And just as I post this another video emerges (translation via DamascusTribune)

 Update Another video has been posted 

Update This exclusive witness report of the Treimsa massacre from NOW Lebanon appears to describe cluster style munitions

It was the first time we see helicopters of the like, they were really big and looked like Apaches. They would fire rockets that were capable of setting rocks on fire. They were throwing bombs which would divide into another 20 as it hit the ground. There were around five planes flying over us, they killed 10 families near the Assi river bank, they were all burnt to death, among which were 18 women and 15 children

Update July 14th CJ Chivers has written an excellent article with details of the Syrian air force from a defected Syrian pilot, with these interesting details relating to OFABs and cluster bombs

The aircraft are also well armed. He said his squadron was regularly equipped with S-5 rocket pods and trained to drop OFAB unguided bombs and RBK cluster-munitions canisters. By the time he defected in June, he said, pilots were routinely firing S-5 rockets and sometimes dropping OFABs, but he was not aware of any cluster-munitions use yet. There were reports last week of cluster munitions being used by Syrian helicopters; the reports, while gaining credibility, have not been independently verified.

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com