Activists in Deir Ezzor said that nearly 58 people, including women and children, were killed in mutual shelling between regime forces and ISIS militants on the city and its countryside on Wednesday. The plight of civilians in Deir Ezzor is further aggravated as a result of the lack of basic needs, including food and medicine.
In Deir Ezzor, civilians are trapped in a cycle of violence where Russian and regime air forces raid ISIS-held neighborhoods in the city, and the extremist group shells the regime-held parts with rockets and mortar rounds.
Recent airstrikes by the Assad regime jets targeted civilians queuing at a bakery in the neighborhood of Alommal, causing dozens of casualties.
The ISIS terrorist group has laid a siege on the regime-held parts of Deir Ezzor since early 2014. ISIS militants prevent civilians from entering regime-held parts, while regime forces prevent civilians from leaving parts of the city under their control.
Member of the Syrian Coalition Hussein Albuseis condemned the crimes committed by the Assad regime and its allies as well as by ISIS against civilians in Deir Ezzor. He called upon the international community to step up support for the local FSA and rebel groups to enable them oust ISIS and the Assad regime from all Deir Ezzor province.
Albuseis pointed out that nearly 200,000 civilians trapped in Deir Ezzor have been suffering a double siege by the Assad regime and ISIS, warning of a humanitarian disaster should the city’s civilian population be left prey to the barbarity of the Assad regime and ISIS. He expressed hope that these appeals will not fall on deaf ears and prompt an immediate response from the internationally community.
Dozens of civilians have starved to death since ISIS tightened the siege on Deir Ezzor in early 2014. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
