The ongoing brutal bombardment by the Assad regime and Russian forces in the countryside of Idlib and Hama has so far killed more than 300 civilians and displaced tens of thousands more towards IDP camps and villages near the Turkish border. The bombing campaign has recently further intensified in blatant violation of the Idlib agreement.
In a press release issued on Monday, the Emergency Response Coordinators Team said that they compiled a list of the names of 364 civilians who have been killed in the ongoing aerial and ground bombardment since February 2.
Of those, 261 were killed in the province of Idlib, including 92 children. Ninety-two civilians were killed in the province of Hama, including 22 children. The victims also included eight civilians, including three children, who were killed in the province of Aleppo and two others in Latakia province.
The Team added that the rocket and artillery shelling targeted more than 88 towns and villages in northwestern Syria, including 34 in Idlib, 42 in Hama, nine in Aleppo, and four in the province of Latakia.
The airstrikes hit at least 89 towns and villages, including 39 in Idlib, 46 in Hama, and two in each of Aleppo and Latakia. Barrel bombs hit more than 49 targets, including 22 in Idlib and 27 in Hama.
The aid group went on to say that well over 5,022 families comprising around 317,868 people were displaced from their homes in the period between February 2 and May 6.
The Team called on local and international human rights organizations and the United Nations agencies to condemn this serious military escalation as a blatant violation of the International Humanitarian Law and the International Human Rights Law. It stressed that the Assad regime and Russian onslaught on northwestern Syria risks disrupting the peace efforts and shows utter disregard for the cease-fire and demilitarized zone agreements.
The Syrian Coalition earlier called on the major players to take urgent action to save the lives of civilians in Idlib and Hama provinces, especially women and children and stop the bombing campaign as well as the mass displacement of civilians.
The Assad regime and Russian forces have recently resumed the violent ground and aerial bombardment of the rebel-held areas in the provinces of Idlib and Hama although the area is covered by the Russian-Turkish agreement calling for a halt to bombardment in the region. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
