Amidst the debris..

© REUTERS/Hamid Khatib
Issa, 10 years old, carries a mortar shell in a weapons factory of the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo, September 7th, 2013.
nitrate, aluminium powder, nitrocellulose and TNT for the main charges, and mercury fulminate
and lead azide for primary explosives. When possible, unexploded ordnance is collected,
dismantled and the explosives (RDX, PBX, TNT), are mixed with ammonium nitrate and used
for IEDs or other applications 189 .
Children have been employed in these DIY munitions factories, exposing them to a range of toxic
substances, to which they are particularly vulnerable, as the 2014 report from Aleppo quoted on pag
61 demonstrates:
Rockets are one of the most widely used DIY weapons in the Syrian opposition’s arsenal. These
have come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with opposition battalions across Syria coming
up with their own designs. Sugar-based rocket fuel has been a popular choice for the rockets,
with warheads filled with DIY explosives or explosives harvested from unexploded munitions.
The effectiveness of these inaccurate weapons with small explosive payloads is questionable
but there’s no denying their popularity with the opposition, and they have been used in their
thousands throughout the conflict.
Explosions ammunition sites
Over the course of the conflict, numerous explosions at ammunition storage areas
have been reported. Historical incidents with unplanned explosions at munitions sites show the
potential for water and soil contamination as a result of widespread uncontrolled dispersal of a
range of munitions and explosives.
54 PAX ! Amidst the debris...