Survivors from Damascus’ attack on Deir ez-Zor describe blood, devastation scenes
“They killed our relatives, our homes were destroyed, and our children were terrorized,” said citizens whose homes and young children were targeted by artillery shells from the Damascus government forces and the so-called "National Defense" in the countryside Deir ez-Zor Canton.
Amid the rubble, collapsed walls, and ceilings in a residential neighborhood in Abu Hamam town, following the bombing last Monday night, resident Jameel Hussein al-Hamoud recounts, “We were asleep when the Damascus government forces and the so-called 'National Defense' began shelling residential areas and civilian homes. I recall the moment when shells from the regime fell on us, some even landed in my house.”
On August 12, just a few days ago, Abu Hamam and Kashkia towns were hit by mortar shells from the Damascus government forces and the so-called "National Defense" from dawn. The shelling resulted in 14 civilians being injured, and due to severe injuries sustained by two of them, citizen Rasmiya al-Salih al-Eid (40 years old) and citizen Ammar al-Salih al-Ali were martyred.
He points to the place where his children and family were sleeping, only two meters away from where the shell landed, surrounded by signs of destruction and damage, saying, “We fled as soon as we heard the shelling; otherwise, it would have been a massacre of a family of nine. Even so, a two-year-old girl was hit by shrapnel in her back.”
Scenes captured by ANHA agency show the damage to homes, places of worship, trees, children’s toys, and scattered household furniture, all covered by the aftermath of the shelling.
A few meters west, Abdul Rahman al-Ahmad moves between his home and the surrounding houses, as well as the al-Dahmous Mosque in the same town, which also came under fire from the Damascus government forces and the so-called "National Defense." He says, “Our neighborhood was heavily shelled by the regime, destroying our homes. There are martyrs and casualties, including children and women with severe injuries.”
“We left our homes; they killed our people and terrorized our children. Our children don’t want to return due to the horrors they witnessed and the intense fear,” these are the words dominating the accounts of those ANHA correspondent met in the eastern rural areas of Deir ez-Zor, which witnessed seven days of shelling and attacks by the Damascus government forces and the so-called "National Defense."
The attacks by the Damascus government forces and the so-called "National Defense" over seven days on the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor resulted in 15 martyrs from civilians and 24 injuries, mostly from the massacre that occurred in Abu Hamam, Kashkia, and al-Dahla village.
From inside the town hospital, Abdul Qader al-Khalif, a soldier standing between two injured individuals, his brother Ali al-Khalif and his cousin Abdu Al-razzaq al-Ali, describes how they were injured and what his family witnessed from the bombing. He notes that the town was shelled for five hours.
He said, “They were hit by shrapnel in their backs, spines, and abdomens. What is our crime for them to shell us? They don’t want us to live in peace and security in our areas. The regime, with its continuous aggression, treats us as colonists, not as citizens. Thousands have been killed and displaced because of them, and they continue to apply the same aggressive mentality towards unarmed civilians.”
A-H
ANHA
