Image showing residents carefully watching the sky for barrel bombs as the Assad planes fly overhead in Syria.
A barrel bomb is an improvised unguided bomb, sometimes described as a flying IED (improvised explosive device). They are typically made from a large barrel-shaped metal container that has been filled with high explosives, possibly shrapnel, oil or chemicals as well, and then dropped from a helicopter or airplane. Due to the large amount of explosives (up 1,000 kilograms), their poor accuracy and indiscriminate use in populated civilian areas (including refugee camps), the resulting detonations have been devastating. Critics have characterised them as weapons of terror and illegal under international conventions.
The earliest known use of barrel bombs in their current form was by the Israeli military in 1948. The second known use of barrel bombs was by the US military in Vietnam in the late 1960s. Starting in the 1990s, they were also used in Sri Lanka, Croatia and Sudan. Barrel bombs have been used extensively by the Syrian Air Force during the Syrian Civil War—bringing the weapon to widespread global attention—and later by the Iraqi forces during the Anbar clashes. Experts believe they will continue to be embraced by unstable nations fighting insurgencies since they are cheap to make and utilise the advantages of a government's air-power.
Use in Iraq:
In May 2014, it was reported by witnesses that the Iraqi army dropped barrel bombs on the city of Fallujah and surrounding areas, killing civilians during the Anbar clashes (2013–14). According to Mohammed al-Jumaili, a local journalist, the army repeatedly dropped barrel bombs "targeting mosques, houses and markets." Their use was later confirmed by a mid-level Iraqi security officer in Anbar province who admitted that barrel bombs had in fact been dropped in Fallujah. It has been reported by Iraqis that the attacks usually come at night, in order not to be caught on video. Militants in Fallujah have boasted that they have discovered about 20 barrel bombs that did not explode on impact and are using them to make their own weapons. It was claimed in July 2014 by doctors in Fallujah that the city was being barrel-bombed three times a week and more than 600 civilians had been killed in such strikes since January. It has been claimed by an Iraqi Kurd air force pilot that the barrel bombs are produced by Iranians who then use Antonov aircraft and Huey helicopters to drop them.
According to Erin Evers of Human Rights Watch, "What's happening now in Iraq definitely started in Syria. If I were al-Maliki, and seeing Assad next door using the same tactics without a slap on the wrist and gaining ground as a result, it stands to reason he would say, 'Why the hell not?'"
According to residents of Tikrit, Baiji and Mosul, government forces have also dropped barrel bombs on their cities during the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive. Similar barrel bombs attacks were reported in Fallujah and the nearby town of Al-Karmah, in late July and August. On 11 September, 14 barrel bombs were dropped on Fallujah city, killing 22 civilians. According to aid workers, the Iraqi army continues to use barrel bombs extensively against ISIS-held areas, including 30 to 35 barrel bombs on Aziz Balad, a town east of Samarra. Further attacks and casualties were reported in Fallujah in June, July and August 2015.