In a press conference organized by the Media Association in Aleppo and its countryside on Thursday, the Syrian Civil Defense Corps said that about three million civilians in the province of Idlib are being subjected to daily violations and crimes by the Assad regime and Russian air forces.
“What Russia has been doing since its intervention in Syria on the side of the Assad regime in late 2015 is not only to commit crimes but to question everything that is related to the truth,” said Raed al-Saleh, director of the Civil Defense Crops.
Al-Saleh said that at least 835 civilian have been killed in Idlib alone since 26 April, including 201 children. “What angers us in the Civil Defense is the figures. These are not figures. We are talking about 201 projects to build a future for Syria. We are talking about women, men and families who lost their children. We are talking about a tragedy.”
Al-Saleh lamented the international media’s declining interest in Syria. “If the number of civilian deaths is below 40, there will be no international coverage,” Saleh said, adding that the news about Syria comes fourth or fifth, contrary to what it was prior to the Russian intervention.
Head of the Directorate of Health in Idlib, Mustafa Al-Eido, said that the conference aimed to highlight the scale of crime being committed by Russia and the Assad regime against our people and the civil institutions such as the educational facilities, hospitals, and health centers. It also aimed to convey the Syrian people’s voice to the international community, human rights organizations, the civil society institutions, and members of the UN Security Council.
Adviser to the Association, Ismail al-Raj, said that the conference aimed also to convey the real picture to the international community and refute Russia’s consistent lies and disinformation.
The conference came a few days after two-thirds of the UN Security Council member States called upon the UN Secretary-General to launch an investigation into the Assad regime and Russia’s attacks on UN-supported medical facilities in Syria. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
