The Syrian Civil Defense said that the Assad regime’s intensified shelling on towns and villages in northern Syria has killed no fewer than 35 civilians in the past ten days, including 11 women and 13 children. At least 75 people, including nine women and 22 children, were injured.
Local activists said that the Assad regime forces and their allies’ shelling on residential areas were continuing as of Thursday morning. The civil defense said that the Assad regime and its allies were using various types of weapons in the shelling. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the rescue group said that at least 456 artillery shells and rockets as well as 52 cluster bombs have hit northern Syrian in the past ten days.
The statement indicated that northern Syria saw relative calm and improvement in the humanitarian situation following the signing off on the Idlib agreement. However, the Assad regime forces and their allies have resumed the violent shelling since February 12, mainly targeting civilians, especially in Idlib province.
The civil defense pointed out that the shelling is targeting shelters as well as civilian and residential areas in violation of the Idlib Agreement. It added that the resumption of violent shelling risks sabotaging the political solution, stressing that this military escalation “constituted war crime and a crime against humanity.”
“Northern Syria is currently home to nearly four million people from all parts of Syria,” the statement added. It warned of massacres and heavy civilian casualties should the shelling continues, stressing that “the international community has a responsibility to protection those civilians.”
The Emergency Response Coordinators in northern Syria earlier said that more than 7,000 families have fled their homes in Idlib and Hama provinces since the beginning of this month because of the intensified shelling by the Assad regime and its allies.
The military escalation coincided with renewed commitment to the Idlib agreement. The Syrian Coalition said that violations of the existing agreements must be condemned by everyone. It also said that guarantors should closely follow the situation on the ground and intervene to save civilians and prevent further violations. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
