Regime, Russian air strikes in Syria
103 civilians killed in 10 days
Says UN, more than 400,000 displaced in 3 months
Air strikes by the Syrian government and its allies on schools, hospitals, markets and bakeries have killed at least 103 civilians in the past 10 days, including 26 children, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in a statement yesterday.
“These are civilian objects, and it seems highly unlikely, given the persistent pattern of such attacks, that they are all being hit by accident,” Bachelet said, adding that the rising toll had been met with “apparent international indifference”.
Besides the killings, more than 400,000 people were displaced in northwestern Syria over the past three months, she added.
The jihadist-dominated Idlib region is supposed to be protected by a months-old international truce deal, but has faced growing bombardment by the government and its ally Russia since late April.
Aid groups have described the latest bloody episode of Syria’s eight-year civil war as a “nightmare”.
On the ground, regime air raids yesterday pummelled a market in the Idlib province town of Saraqib. One civilian was killed and several others were wounded there, four days after a similar attack killed more than seven there.
It said two other civilians were killed and 20 others were wounded in regime attacks elsewhere in the region.
Bachelet warned of continued regime attacks against schools, hospitals, markets and bakeries in the Idlib region.
“These are civilian objects, and it seems highly unlikely, given the persistent pattern of such attacks, that they are all being hit by accident,” she said in a statement.
“Intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes, and those who have ordered them or carried them out are criminally responsible for their actions.”
The region under attack is home to some three million people, nearly half of them already displaced from other parts of the country. It covers nearly all of Idlib and parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces. The Idlib region is controlled by jihadist alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate.
UN said that since the end of April it had documented 39 attacks against health facilities or medical workers in the region. At least 50 schools have been damaged by the air strikes and shelling, it added.