The Assad regime and Russian forces have continued their bombing campaign in many areas of northern Syria and the demilitarized zone for more than two months, causing hundreds of civilian casualties and the displacement of thousands more.
In a new report released on Monday, the Emergency Response Coordinators Team in Northern Syria said that 26,470 people have been displaced as a result of the relentless bombing campaign by the Assad regime forces and their allies in the region.
The Team said that it documented three major military campaigns in the region, pointing out that the first military campaign began in October of last year and resulted in the displacement of 37,245 people.
The second military campaign, which begun in December of last year, displaced more than 41,367 people. The third military campaign, which begun in February, led to the displacement of around 186,258 people who sought refuge in over more than 35 sub-districts in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas and northwestern Syria.
The report indicated that civilian casualties have increased since the signing off on the Idlib agreement, adding that 338 civilians were killed in the period between September 17, 2018 and April 15, 2019. Of those, 257 civilians were killed in Idlib province alone.
The Team pointed out more than 254 civilians, including 91 children, were killed in the third military campaign alone.
The Team stressed that the Assad regime’s and Russian forces have been systemically targeting vital civilian infrastructure in northern Syria which already suffer lack of resources and humanitarian aid. It said that these attacks constituted war crime whose perpetrators must be held accountable.
Moreover, the report indicated that Russia and the Assad regime forces are seeking to empty the area of the civilian population in continuation of the crime of the mass forced displacement practiced which has been ongoing since early 2015.
The Team condemned the continued hostilities by the Assad regime and its Russian ally and the international silence accompanying them. It called on local and international humanitarian actors to act swiftly to relieve the civilian population and displaced persons whose numbers are constantly increasing. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
