The Assad regime’s air force has violently raided many areas across Syria in the past 24 hours, including the areas which are covered by the ‘de-escalation zones’ agreement. The Syrian Coalition said that this escalating bombing campaign is a “continuation of the war crimes and comes as part of the bloody military solution the Assad regime is pursing.”
Local news networks quoted activists as saying that heavy aerial bombardment targeted rebel-held areas in the provinces of Idlib, Hama, Homs and Dara’a, pointing out that the most violent bombings targeted the towns and villages in northern rural Homs.
Local activists said that the Assad regime’s air force carried out over 60 airstrikes on northern rural Homs in the early morning hours of Monday, while at least 50 barrel bombs hit the towns of Rastan, Za’afarana, Ezzedeen, and Deirfool.
The Syrian Civil Defense Corps described the bombings of Rastan as “hysterical,” adding that the town was hit with more than 200 rockets in less than one hour on Sunday evening.
Local activists said that airstrikes also targeted the village of Ma’arzita and the outskirts of the village of Tal Taraa’I in southern rural Dara’a, while the towns of Habeet, Tamana’a, and the outskirts of the village of Al-Tih came under artillery shelling by regime forces.
Regime forces also carried out artillery shelling on the towns of Latamina, Kafarzeita, Zakat, Hasraya, and Al-Arba’ain in northern rural Hama, while the villages of Wadi Hasmin, Zakat, and Ma’arkubba were shelled with the white phosphorus bombs.
In Dara’a province, meanwhile, local activists pointed out that the liberated parts of Dara’a city and the Ghariz road in the eastern countryside came under artillery shelling by the Assad regime forces. The shelling caused civilian casualties and destruction to civilian homes.
The Syrian Coalition earlier stressed the need to activate the international neutral mechanism for the prosecution of war criminals in Syria. Accountability for war crimes will significantly contribute to the success of a political solution in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254. Accountability will also help restore stability and ensure the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes, the Coalition added. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
