Assad forces use one more time Scud ballistic missile against the rebels in Syria 2911132

The conflict in Syria

Friday, November 29, 2013 09:31 AM

Assad forces use one more time Scud ballistic missile against the rebels in Syria.

According to Aljazeera website, several people have been killed and scores of others injured in what Syrian activists said was a Scud missile attack in the country’s east.

A Scud missile of Syrian army in firing position (Archive image)

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is anti-Assad, said six civilians were killed and more than 30 injured by the Scud surface-to-surface missile launched by Syrian government forces overnight on Thursday in Raqqa.

A local activist network put the death toll in the attack on the Euphrates valley city at 35 people.

Activists say the missile was fired from the Syrian Army’s Third Division military base in the suburbs of Damascus.

Raqqa is the only provincial capital lost to the regime since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted in March 2011.

This is not the first time that Assad's troops use Scud missiles against the rebels. In December 2012, Assad forces for the first time had fired at least six Soviet-designed Scud missiles in the latest bid to push back rebels who have consistently chipped away at the government’s military superiority.

Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by Russia during the Cold War. Warheads can be HE, chemical, or nuclear, and the missile, launched vertically from a small platform, has a range of 300 km.