The children’s rights group Hurras Network highlighted the extremely dire situation facing children in northwestern Syria as a result of the barbaric onslaught the Assad regime and Russian forces have launched in the region since late April.
In a report published on Friday, the Network said the Assad regime and Russian bombing campaign has killed no fewer than 159 children in northwestern Syria since the beginning of 2019.
The report indicated that 43 children were killed in July, 42 in May, 20 in February, 17 in June, 15 in April, three in January, and two in March.
The monitoring group said that at least 17 children has been killed since the beginning of August, noting that the figure could rise significantly due to the Assad regime and Russia’s intensification of the bombardment and shelling on Idlib province.
The report pointed out that these figures represent only the victims that the rights group was able to verify, indicating that the real number could be much higher as many deaths were not documented.
The report described these killings as deliberate and unjustifiable, stressing that no excuse can justify the targeting of an apartment building sheltering dozens of families.
The Network, as a specialized group in the provision of psychosocial support, called for ensuring protection for Syrian children. It also called on the international community to take action to bring an end to the escalating onslaught on northwestern Syria, adding that the targeting of children violates all international norms and conventions. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)