Douma Market Attack, August 2015

On Sunday, August 16 a reported 112 civilians were killed, activists reported, after missiles from a Syrian military jet hit a public market at mid-day, with two strikes, one after rescue workers arrived. It's been described as one of the deadliest single jet strikes of the war, and widely blamed on the Syrian government. However, as usual, the details of this case are worth a closer look.

Victims
There are various opposition-supplied lists of the victims cited around, but the fullest seems to be this updated list of 117 victims in the VDC martyrs database. Like the other lists, this shows a peculiar and obvious pattern; 109 of those who died are listed as adult men (the others being 5 boys and 3 women). This remains to be explained. Some suggest the dead are primarily rebel fighters killed in an airstrike somewhere else. But Monitor on Massacre Marketing (ACLOS-affiliated) suggests the men are likely kidnapped civilians the Islamist rebels executed.

Locations
Just how widespread the damage was can be established somewhat from the visual record. Initial reports described an attack on a vegetable market and, as a later report said vaguely, the alleged airstrikes also hit "other residential areas during rush hour." Ayman Abu Anas, a Local Coordination Committee founder, "told NBC News that around 9 missiles had hit the market and the wounded had overwhelmed local hospitals." Human Rights Watch heard there were four attacks that "hit the crowded markets, known locally as the al-Hal, al-Houboub, and al-Ghanam markets," all of which "are within 500 meters of one another." The inset photo, taken by opposition activists shortly after the attack, shows four distinct, high-rising plumes of smoke.

From the video and photo evidence, four distinct but nearby strike areas can be discerned (with other sites less clear, perhaps nearby or perhaps additional attacked areas). An analysis of the photo above and a later image establishes a likely field of view across Douma, and clarifies that the four clouds of smoke line up roughly with these four areas, from east to west:
 * 1) ) 'park market' (minor street market at a fenced park, with food carts and stalls
 * 2) ) an intersection with low-level buildings destroyed and some vehicles flipped
 * 3) ) a market labeled on Wikimapia as el-Hal, with produce in bulk, open stalls on both sides (Wikimapia currently lists at least two public market areas in Douma, commercial market (irrelevant) and el-Hal.)
 * 4) ) a large steel-framed building that could be a market.

Most of these are in a district labeled (on Wikimapia) for the SE thoroughfare Lane of Arabs ( حارة العرب ) Impact 4 is not clearly placed but deduced by the smoke plumes and pattern of the other three blasts - each 155 meters east-southeast of the last (describing a possible arc of attack), and with a video showing a strike on a building totally consistent with this one. The grisly post-attack scene shown in video MB1 is consistent with and probably is el-Hal market. The second market area (seen in video MD1) is park market. A photograph on Twitter shows this area from above, with a damage pattern suggesting a firing origin to the south.

In the intersection attack, it seems some low-lying buildings were destroyed, perhaps the epicenter of damage (bottom image), but otherwise it seems no inhabited structures were seriously damaged.

The image at right is a still from a later video DE2 (see list below) facing north-northeast, showing smoke dissipating, with distinct mountains in the background. Using Google Earth, the basic view of the mountains was set, along with filming location next to Fayha school of driving, and a line that the edge of the smoke should be on was drawn in towards the shadow of the plume on the mountain, but not right (later analysis suggests it should start a bit west of there and slope more to the east, and does not cross el-Hal market - but probably the 4th strike. Additional sources of smoke will be to the west but not to the east of that line. (see also Monitor blog)

It seems likely these are the only four clustered areas that were hit at this time; as the top image shows, with a full view of Douma, no substantial smoke is rising from any other area, unless it's behind that plume, on the same blocked line of sight. It's in this limited area opposition sources claim 550 were injured, including 220 children, and 100+ men died along with 3 women and 5 boys (or similar - record refinement is in progress).

The location of the gathered bodies of some 45 men and boys has also been decided. It's not a mosque but an Annatr school, formerly if not currently (here on Wikimapia). This lies 550 meters north of strikes 3 and 4, 700 meters from park market. The earlier views show at least 41 bodies of men and boys un-wrapped and then wrapped in the southeast dirt corner. Later afternoon views show at least 45 wrapped bodies ready for burial along the west wall.

Critical Sources

 * The Douma Market Attack: a Fabricated Pretext for Intervention? by Eric Draitser, Counterpunch, August 21, 2015
 * Monitor on Massacre Marketing (ACLOS-affiliated blogsite): First thoughts - Masterlist - One Month Investigation Review
 * Syrian Perspective
 * David Macilwain
 * Robert Lewis, On The Bombing Of Markets Aug. 28

Mainstream Media Reports

 * The Guardian
 * AP via CBS News
 * Reuters mirror, Huffington Post
 * 100 killed and hundreds injured by Syrian air strikes in Douma, Middle East Eye
 * Man missing under rubble in Douma returns as ‘Living Martyr’ to his funeral The living martyr story has been widely reported. This article (Middle East Eye) has links to some of the sources.

Syrian Response

 * RT The Syrian government on Tuesday blasted UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura for his criticism of the Sunday air attack. It accused him of abandoning “impartiality” and stated that his remarks were "biased and based on the inaccurate information spread by Syria’s enemies."

Videos

 * Playlist: Douma market attack 2015


 * Attack/Aftermath
 * DS1 0:14 shows distant smoke rising https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5CMOeZ6MXA
 * DS2 0:13 same but closer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9f75ChDKjo
 * DS3 0:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VlFO4IKLJs
 * see MD10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keI-QaD0y-4 (shows smoke from locatable view)
 * see MD8 first scene - smoke as seen at the market, still rising

Video in Support of Jet Attack: nothing yet, and see big still below: no trace of jet, missile, or rocket trail to the north, northeast, or east. If one was in any other direction, they didn't bother showing it.)


 * Market (area) damage:
 * MD1 3:32 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrlmC9jBtA0 Shows damage after some time, few if any casualties. Good general view of the area. It shows the worst of it happened a block or so away in a traffic intersection.
 * MD2 0:35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq5gJXGhAy0 (starts the same as MD1, but turns left, filmed earlier, more smoke, but shows less)
 * MD3 2:21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Y-DCg-tFY useful compilation, early footage, clear footage, Shaam News Network
 * MD4 0:36 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K44puudRsB8 (shows intersection scene, overturned Union of free Syrian doctors ambulance)
 * MD5 0:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCS9EnM0OMk
 * MD6 0:31 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4lA6vq1wYY (market)
 * MD7 3:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB4fpLNvVd0 (intersection)
 * MD8 3:04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Wt_4qYQsE (Orient News, compiled footage)
 * MD9 0:51 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRaOWgOh0cc (intersection)
 * MD10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keI-QaD0y-4
 * MD11 0:10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rBpivd1GQE (corn flour shown)
 * MD12 0:48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw8FfJ2Nq6Q (market damage, afternoon)
 * MD13 2:26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEgKtCQDMUU SMART news, good quality view of market area(s)


 * Market Videos with Dead and Injured
 * MB1 1:20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr7ImsjMBoE (Cham Damascus Douma tens of martyrs and wounded by shelling 16 82 015 video very harsh warning) Posted August 16 by ShaamNetwork S.N.N (shows a handful of dead men being removed from the area)
 * MB2 2:21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVtiej3Jow - shows teen boy dead, badly mangled, in situ, partial remains and wounded carried - graphic

Injured, elsewhere
 * IE1 1:35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=688FH-giZKA (wounded in field clinic, largely pre-teen boys shown)


 * Dead, elsewhere
 * DE1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba0vDB5GieM (Farewell mothers of the martyrs in the 100 always sad and painful moments in the city and invited dozens of its sons 2015.8.16) 1:15 uploaded by ( ياسر الدوماني ) (wrapped bodies) DE1 mirror https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s8dvbk37TQ
 * DE2 1:33, edited/hosted, by Syria Mubasher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2R2Pseg7YM Body array, mass grave
 * DE3 0:11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMFrqsvE__8

(mostly or all published by (al-Mokhlas al-Amin?) ( المخلص الأمين  ) - (victim names as given, and as translated, mostly by Google translate or by its audio) 9 0:16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pa9y9ydLMk Mohiuddin Naaman (  محي الدين نعمان ) (all visible from waist up except neck - no visible injuries)
 * Dead Elsewhere, Identified:
 * DID1 0:18 #‏دوما‬ 16-8-2015 || ‫#‏تنسيقية_دوما‬ || الشهيد خالد علي التوت (martyr: Khaled Ali Al-Tout ( التوت )) (seems to be a pre-teen boy)
 * DID2 0:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45WIwFETn3E martyr: كاسم عبدو المنسي
 * DID3 0:11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS2aYAJEb0M Mahmoud ?? ( محضر الشامية )
 * DID4 0:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHQc6Y3b-Rg Omar Kraem? ( عمر كريم ) older man, white beard
 * DID5 0:015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4BS79nOs3w Mahmoud Hijazi ( محمود حجازي ) (strange pattern of facial burns?)
 * DID6 0:11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oebm1k9M4S0 Ziad Samir Shanawany ( زياد سمير الشنواني ) (partly burned?)
 * DID7 0:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNeUt5kYqac Alaa Khaled Abdel Dayem ( علاء خالد عبد الدايم ) (roughed-up hand and face visible, being laid in mass grave)
 * DID8 0:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBmJQiZPTCs Hossam Halbouni ( حسام الحلبوني )
 * DID10 0:18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqroHuzConE Bashir al-Tout ( بشير التوت ) (no visible wounds)
 * DID11 0:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XVAgRgzzaw Khalid Al Hudaydah ( خالد حديدة ) (no visible marks, maybe at groin?)
 * DID12 0:16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzgDTEUO4g Muwafaq Fouad Hamraoui ( موفق فؤاد الحمراوي ) (roughed-up, some-stained, intact)
 * DID13 0:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWu-AeCEHE4 Sobhi Mahmoud Tla? ( صبحي محمود بلة ) (slight facial marks)
 * DID14 0:04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSq24mq_ckA Akram Seriwl ( أكرم سريول ) (neck covered, covers blood-soaked)
 * DID15 0:06 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRyBuEKwdrQ Khaled Abdel-Hakim Khbayh ( خالد عبد الحكيم خبية ) (blood from mouth and nose)
 * DID16 0:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9KVKh6g1M0 Hanin al-Da'as? ( حنين الدعاس ) female form of Shahid - maybe be teenage girl or young adult) (cheek abrasions? Wrapped upper body is all in blood)
 * DID17 0:21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_LKUTYoGlg Khalid Abdul Rahman Yunus and Imad Eddin (3 men in a truck, only 2 named)
 * DID18 0:11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjjKZjrLJXU Khalid Mohammed Znob ( خالد محمد زنوب ) (neck covered, why?)
 * DID19 0:16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmtIvHrHOdk Hisham Arbash ( هشام عربش ) (smokey, roughed-up)
 * DID20 0:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzzNSajYrs4 Samir Hamouri ( سمير الحموري ) (older man, smokey, wounds on side of face)
 * DID21 0:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IscNRmrlxBk Subhi Arbash ( صبحي عربش ) (older man, minor injuries but intact)
 * DID22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpa57xVb_5g Ibrahim Khbayh ( ابراهيم خبية ) (totally wrapped and invisible except maybe his nose, dark-colored, was in a fire)
 * DID23 0:06 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6akldk9Uyg child martyr Zuhair al-Masri ( الطفل زهير المصري ) (puffed up right eye? Intact looking, no out outward marks on right side of face, the rest unseen)
 * DID24 0:17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aR8D3sw6ZE -Mohammed Mahmoud Abbas Daoud- ( محمد مازن محمود داود ) (young man, bad but superfical damage all over his seen face, chest, right shoulder (cuts, pits, etc.) rest unseen)
 * DID25 0:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxoHiQtEd3k Adnan Khalil al-Ghazzawi ( خليل عدنان الغزاوي ) (dark, face at least seems unmarked)
 * DID26 0:18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wCSwdVA774 -Amin al-Dsh?- ( أمين الدج ) (dark, outside, published Aug. 19)
 * DID27 0:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYwSG-sqOCg Khaled Mohiuddin ( خالد محي الدين ) (reddened, burned face, heavy smoke exposure, intact face, rest unseen - another victim glimpsed at the start, man with minor burns on face, no smoke or marks)
 * DID28 0:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7qI99N8OM8 -Mohammed Alchgra- ( محمد الشغري ) (middle-aged man, face intact, unmarked, rest unseen, laid in grave)
 * DID29 0:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgvM5h5sFlU -Raed Khitti- ( رائد خيتي ) (young man, marks on side of face but intact, from head and shoulder shown)
 * DID30 0:11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gHJAzowk4k -Mohiuddin Durra- ( محي الدين الدرة ) (older man, gray beard, marks like shrapnel on left side of face, distinct red burns on right)
 * DID31 0:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WianXvDOrE -Ghassan Amin Thrush (aldh?) - ( غسان أمين الدج ) (dark, outside)
 * DID32 0:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D58oyuSTSL4 -Khaled Abdu Maakh- ( خالد عبدو معيكة )
 * DID33 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAajbX6IgUQ Ahmed Algroudi ( الجرودي ) - young or newborn infant, face unharmed (VDC does not list this victim, but has an adult male of the same family name, [http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/details/martyrs/156186#.VdmYrJdySSp Fayez al-Jroudi)
 * DID34 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voeS31R82mQ Martyr Jihad Walid Hijazi ( الشهيد جهاد وليد حجازي 2015 8 16 ) (shows 3 victims with varying marks and damage: a boy, man, another boy. By audio, the first is Jihad Walid Hijazi, the man, Walid ? Hijazi - boy Mustafa Walid Hijazi. Implied: father and sons. VDC lists all 3, the boys as boys, along with 2 other Hijazi men, one seen in DID5 with face burns)
 * DID35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR6CEB34Eec Martyr Hisham Arbash - massive but discrete head wound, like from bullet exit)

Background

 * Carnegie Endowment on Army of Islam, group rivalries in Douma