An aid group said that the ongoing bombing campaign by the Assad regime and Russia has so far killed no fewer than 244 civilians since February 2. It said that hostilities by the Assad regime and Russia continue unabated against civilians in the region.
The Emergency Response Coordinators Team said that the victims included 195 civilians who were killed in Idlib, 40 in Hama, seven in Aleppo, and two in Lattakia.
The Team said that at least 45 people were killed last week alone, including 14 children.
The ongoing bombing campaign has also forced more than 25,776 households comprising 160,583 people out of their homes, adding that these households sought refuge in around 35 sub-districts located in the Shield of the Euphrates and the Olive Branch areas as well as in northwest Syria.
The Team warned that the Assad regime’s targeting of residential areas might be aimed at changing the demographic landscape in the area by causing a mass exodus of people from northern Syria.
The Team appealed to the international community and the United Nations to shoulder their responsibilities towards the civilian population in Idlib and the surrounding areas.
The Assad regime forces have used internationally prohibited weapons in the bombings of Idlib. Local activists said that a public market in the town of Kifranbel in southern rural Idlib was hit with the white phosphorous on Thursday. The attack killed 14 civilians, including women and children, as well as injured to dozens more.
The Syrian Coalition discussed the Assad regime’s military escalation in northern Syrian in its recent meetings as it warned of the dire consequences of this escalation for civilians and the entire political process.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights issued its monthly report on violations in the country as it stressed that the Assad regime and its allies continue to commit war crimes against civilians including killings, arbitrary arrests and brutal torture. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
