The shocking thing about the attack on a Syrian bus convoy is the story that came out in Western mainstream media immediately after did not match what eyewitnesses were saying, claims Patrick Henningsen, executive editor of 21st Century Wire.com.
The UN's special envoy to Syria said Saturday's massacre in Aleppo province was a horrific event in which more than 130 people were killed. Buses filled with evacuees trying to escape areas besieged by rebels were attacked as they waited to leave.
Survivors are now in hospitals in government-held areas. Among the more than 130 killed were 67 children.
Patrick Henningsen has recently returned from the area where the attack was carried out where he spoke with victims and their families. He shared with RT what he heard from them.
“What we saw is a really harrowing tale. It is hard to describe, to put into words. Very emotional testimonies by the victims’ families. Stories about a long bus ride from Idlib to al-Rashideen to the rallying point where there is going to be the exchange. Something that would normally take 45 minutes – it took up to seven hours in being taunted along the way, and being kept on the buses for 48 hours with very small rations; children being bated out of the buses to the death essentially. For those victims, it was an eery much highly organized affair and a premeditated affair, and very carefully organized for maximum casualties. That is just the beginning of that story, but there is a lot more to it, and a lot more suspicion about some of the people who were there. Of course, there are affiliations with extremists as well. Bodies are being taken away; children are being taken away. Turkish ambulances seemingly on standby according to the witnesses there, which is very odd – seem to have been ready to bring it to action and take away people to where? We’re not sure.”
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Henningsen, groups like Al-Nusra Ahrar al-Sham, active in the area, could possibly be behind it.
“The shocking thing about this [attack] is that the story that came out in the Western mainstream media bears zero resemblance to the testimonies of multiple eyewitnesses at the scene. One can only conclude that what we saw in major Western media outlets immediately in the aftermath of this incident was factually untrue,” he told RT. “So you have to ask the question where they were getting information from. Were they getting it from extremist sources themselves? Were they getting that information from White Helmets? How come it bears no resemblance to any of the eyewitnesses at the Jibrin refugee camp outside of Aleppo that not only we spoke to, but other journalists spoke to as well?”
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.