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Alexander Sehmer — The Independent Monday Nov 23, 2015

Russia has killed 403 civilians, among them 97 children, during its air strikes in Syria, according to figures from a monitoring group.

The Russian president Vladimir Putin has stepped up his country’s air campaign in Syria in recent weeks, targeting anti-government rebels as well Islamist fighters with Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra.

But the figures from the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights highlight the considerable civilian toll – and raise questions about the effectiveness of the strikes.

Russia began its air campaign in Syria on 30 September.

The campaign has intensified following the downing of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, thought to have been carried out by Islamic State.

All 224 people on board the flight were killed.

Continues …

Comment — Nov 25, 2015

Rami Abdulrahman at work

Rami Abdulrahman at work

The above report appeared two days ago in the Independent. At the time we thought this will likely go without confirmation or corroboration and sure enough absolutely nothing has appeared since to substantiate it.
We should not be surprised though. After all the above is based on information from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Coventry based media outlet run by one man, Rami Abdulrahman.
By his own admission the Syrian born Abdulrahman has not been back to his homeland in nearly two decades. Yet he is regularly quoted by the corporate media as some sort of authority on the situation in Syria. Even though his claims are routinely uncorroborated, like the one above.
In effect Abdulrahman is acting as a disinformation agent, distributing reports that cast the Assad regime in a negative light and which are carried without question or corroboration by the corporate media.
Rather than have paid agents in the offices of major media organisations, those who are shaping Western policy over Syria are covertly using the likes of SOHR to mould Western public opinion. In effect making the corporate media in all its guises little more than distribution outlets for disinformation crafted by Western intelligence. Ed.