Summary

Incendiary weapons produce heat and fire through the chemical reaction of a flammable substance. These weapons cause extremely painful burns that are difficult to treat, and also start fires that can destroy objects and infrastructure. Field investigations, witness accounts, and videos and photos reviewed by Human Rights Watch indicate that the Syrian Air Force carried out at least 56 incendiary weapons attacks from November 2012 through September 2013. Human Rights Watch and the Violations Documentation Center in Syria have documented four separate incendiary weapons attacks that resulted in the deaths of at least 41 civilians and the wounding of 71 others.

Syria is not party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) or its Protocol III banning the use of air-delivered incendiary weapons in areas with "concentrations of civilians." Given the international standard represented by CCW Protocol III on incendiary weapons, Human Rights Watch opposes any use of incendiary weapons in populated areas by any party at any time. Human Rights Watch considers Syria's air strikes using incendiary weapons in or near civilian population centers to violate international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, because they are inherently indiscriminate. Deliberate or reckless indiscriminate attacks are war crimes.