A local rights group on Thursday said that the Assad regime’s and its backers continue to target vital civilian centers in the ‘de-escalation zone’ in northwestern Syria, adding that these forces used internationally prohibited weapons in attacks in September.
In its report on violations in September, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) highlighted indiscriminate attacks and the use of internationally prohibited weapons such as cluster munitions, chemical weapons, barrel bombs, incendiary weapons, and bombs filled with nails in attacks on vital centers in Idlib and Hama provinces.
The Network said that it recorded at least 35 attacks on vital civilian centers by Assad regime and Russian forces in the provinces of Hama and Idlib in September.
The targets of these attacks included six schools, six medical facilities, and nine places of worship, the monitoring group said, noting that the Assad regime forces and Russian forces were behind the majority of these attacks.
The Network also said that it recorded the use of cluster munitions in three attacks regime forces carried out in Idlib province killing two civilians and wounding five others. The Assad regime’s helicopters dropped more than 48 barrel bombs on the provinces of Idlib, Hama and Latakia, causing damage to two schools.
Indiscriminate shelling by the Assad regime and Russian forces destroyed civilian facilities and infrastructure in violation of international law, the Network said, adding that these attacks amounted to war crimes. It also said it recorded the use of cluster munitions in three attacks by regime forces killing two civilians and wounding five others in Idlib.
The report indicated that the Assad regime violated international humanitarian law, customary international law, and UN Security Council resolutions, most notably resolution 2139, resolution 2042 on the release of detainees, and resolution 2254.
The Network called on the UN Security Council to take measures pursuant to UN resolution 2254, stressing the need to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court and hold all those involved in crimes to account, including the Russian regime which was found involved in war crimes. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
