The Assad regime and Russian air forces have recently intensified attacks on rebel-held areas in Idlib and Hama provinces using internationally banned weapons, such as the white phosphorous, cluster bombs, and napalm. The most violent airstrikes are targeting northern rural Hama and the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rural Idlib.
According to Hama Media Center, more than 200 rockets and 70 air strikes have hit northern rural Hama over the past few hours, especially the towns of Taybet Alimam, Halfaya, and Kafarzeita.
The intensification of the bombing campaign on Idlib and Hama provinces followed a chemical attack regime forces carried out in the town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4. Since then, the Assad regime and Russian jets have carried out at least 3,000 airstrikes on the two provinces, mostly using the white phosphorous and vacuum bombs in an unprecedented escalation on the area.
The human rights department of the Syrian Coalition’s legal committee said that these attacks and massacres by the Assad regime forces and their allied foreign militias amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under Articles 6 and 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted on July 17, 1998.
The department called on the international community, especially the UN Security Council to form a special commission of inquiry to investigate these crimes and impose a no-fly zone as well as safe zones to protect civilians in the liberated areas.
The department also called on human rights organizations and civil society groups around the world to exercise pressure on their governments to act more effectively to end the suffering of the Syrian people and refer perpetrators of these crimes to international courts to receive the punishment they deserve. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
