Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flat-out denied allegations that his administration had authorized the use of barrel bombs, calling the accusations a "childish story" in an interview with the BBC that aired on Tuesday.
"We have bombs, missiles and bullets... There is [are] no barrel bombs, we don't have barrels," Assad said during the interview with Jeremy Bowen.
However, there has been widespread evidence refuting Assad's claims, and Twitter users were quick to challenge his statement using the hashtag #NotBarrelBombs to highlight the damage from the deadly bombs.
Barrel bombs are unguided, high explosive bombs that are made of cheap material and typically constructed from oil drums, gas cylinders and water tanks, filled with explosives and scrap metal to enhance fragmentation, and then dropped from helicopters.
The Syria Civil Defense, a volunteer search-and-rescue service tasked with recovery efforts in areas targeted by the Syrian regime, was encouraging Twitter users to share their thoughts using #NotBarrelBombs.
Dear Internet. Assad said it was "childish" that his regime dropped barrels bombs. RT #notbarrelbombs if you disagree pic.twitter.com/eRyY13jmrC— Syria Civil Defence (@SyriaCivilDef) February 10, 2015
Our heroes of the @SyriaCivilDef after Assad's #notbarrelbombs #Syria pic.twitter.com/53QoNW1zTa— Rime Allaf (@rallaf) February 10, 2015
According to Assad, it's 'childish' to assume Syrian forces used barrel bombs on civilians. Okay. #NotBarrelBombs pic.twitter.com/AiqDdgJpy1— Jack Moore (@JFXM) February 10, 2015
Evidence points to Assad's forces indiscriminately dropping them on rebel-held areas, where civilians also live. In mid-2014, Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented hundreds of incidences of barrel bombs dropping on civilian areas in the city of Aleppo, which is controlled by rebel armed groups.
"By using barrel bombs on densely populated areas, Syrian government forces are using means and methods of warfare that do not distinguish between civilians, who are accorded protection under the laws of war, and combatants, making attacks indiscriminate and therefore unlawful," the report read.