Mortars hit Red Crescent convoy in Douma

Mortar shells originating from an unknown source targeted a humanitarian convoy entering the regime-encircled city of Douma on Wednesday, killing a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) volunteer, reported the organization on their Facebook page.

“There have been numerous cases of bombing humanitarian convoys, including a Red Crescent warehouse,” Muhammed Thaer, a human rights activist who lives in Douma, told Syria Direct on Thursday.

“The last Red Crescent aid convoy that entered Douma was in October 2014,” he noted, highlighting the difficulties in getting aid into the de-facto rebel capital, which has been under a tight regime blockade for more than two years.   

While the Syrian Arab Red Crescent did not accuse any party of launching the shells, the Douma Local Coordination Council blamed the regime for the attack.

“The larger caliber mortar shell came from the mountains in the north which are under the regime’s control,”said Abu al-Hassan al-Andalusi, who works with an independent collection of doctors and medical staff in East Ghouta and was present at the scene of the attack.

Workers with the Douma SARC branch were receiving the convoy, which included SARC and World Health Organization delegates, when one mortar shell landed in close proximity to the convoy, while another missed the convoy. The organization posted a picture of the convoy after the incident to their Facebook page.

The convoy was accompanied by an escort from the Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union, a participating faction in the rebel Joint Command which controls Douma and East Ghouta more broadly.