In the month of October, forces of the Assad regime and Russia executed horrifying massacres against civilians in the liberated areas of northwestern Syria, employing internationally banned weapons to bomb residential areas and vital facilities.
The Syrian Civil Defense reported that the intensified bombardment campaign by regime and Russian forces in October resulted in the tragic loss of 66 lives, including 23 children and 13 women. Furthermore, more than 270 individuals sustained injuries, with 79 of them being children, 47 women, and three Syrian Civil Defense volunteers.
Three distinct massacres, where the majority of victims were children and women, occurred during this period. The initial assault targeted the town of Kafr Nouran in the western countryside of Aleppo, the second was directed at the village of Qarqour in the Al-Ghab Plain, northwest of Hama, and the third occurred in the village of Al-Hamamah in the western countryside of Idlib on October 24.
Regime forces and Russia carried out the attacks using artillery shells, rocket launchers, and airstrikes, causing harm to dozens of public facilities and civilian residences in over 70 towns and villages in northwestern Syria. This included more than 13 schools and more than seven medical facilities that were directly hit.
The assaults also impacted five mosques, five internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, five popular markets, and four Syrian Civil Defense centers, which encompassed a women’s and family health center. In addition, an electricity station, three water stations, and three poultry farms suffered damage.
The Civil Defense noted that these attacks forced the displacement of numerous families from cities such as Idlib, Ariha, Jisr al-Shughur, Sarmin, Darat Azza, and villages like Afes, al-Nairab, Tarmanin, al-Abzemo, and many villages in Jabal al-Zawiya, south of Idlib.
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) emphasized in a statement that the Assad regime continues along a path of criminality. It does not believe in any political process capable of fulfilling the Syrian people’s aspirations. Instead, it relies on hostilities, military tactics, and the perpetuation of violence, oppression, and displacement as a means to cement its unjust and illegitimate rule in Syria, punishing civilians who seek freedom, justice, and a decent quality of life.
The SOC called upon the UN Security Council to condemn the war crimes perpetrated by the Assad regime, establish mechanisms to resolve the deadlock in the UN-sponsored Syrian political process, and actively work toward realizing a political transition and implementing UN resolutions on Syria, particularly Resolutions 2254 (2015) and 2118 (2013). This is essential to address the demands and aspirations of the Syrian people, ultimately leading to a state of justice, freedom, and democracy.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
