Dozens of civilians were killed and injured in Russian airstrikes on the town of Mheimidah in western rural Deir Ezzor, activists reported Tuesday. The Russian air force also bombed the towns of Al-Mayadin, Abu Hamam and Al-Shuheil in rural Deir ezzor, causing civilian casualties.
Russia has recently escalated air raids on Deir Ezzor province, killing nearly 160 civilians in the past few days. Contrary to Russia’s claims, the airstrikes were not aimed at ISIS and did not cause ISIS militants in the area to retreat.
The Syrian Coalition stressed that “Russia is following in the footsteps of the murderous Assad regime in deliberately and unabashedly targeting civilians seeing them as easy and slow-moving targets. Through its airstrikes on Syria, Russia has mainly ravaged peaceful villages and towns and killed unarmed civilians since day one.”
“Russia and the Assad regime continue to violate UN Security Council resolution 2254 which calls for an immediate cessation of all attacks against civilians. These violations, however, have been met with absolute silence by the international community, which serves the Assad regime’s efforts to prevent any political solution,” the Syrian Coalition added.
The Syrian Coalition emphasized that “this complete disregard for Syrians’ blood is a shameful stain on humanity and the international community which claims to respect freedoms and human rights while keeping silent over a crime of this magnitude. This undoubtedly represents explicit support for these crimes and complicity in impeding a political solution and disrupting the negotiations.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
