The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that it had recorded no fewer than 31 attacks on vital civilian centers in Syria in September, 16 of which were carried out by the Assad regime and Russia forces.
In a report published on Thursday, the monitoring group said that Russia was responsible for 10 attacks while the Assad forces were responsible for six more. The report indicated that the international anti-ISIS coalition forces were responsible for three attacks, while the ISIS extremist group was responsible for one attack. The Network noted that 11 attacks were carried out by groups that were untraceable.
The Network pointed out that 16 centers were located in the province of Idlib, five in Aleppo, six in Hama, and four in Deir Ezzor.
The report indicated that the centers included 11 infrastructure facilities, four places of worship, seven medical centers, and nine educational centers. The attacks took the form of airstrikes as well as attacks by explosive devices and various explosions.
These centers also include medical and educational facilities, infrastructure, religious facilities and other vital installations and centers that are used for purely civilian purposes as was defined by the Geneva Conventions.
The rights group also said that it had recorded a total of 520 attacks on vital civilian centers across Syrian in the period between January 1 and September 30, 2018. It called on Russia to conduct investigations into these attacks; inform the Syrian community about the results; hold those responsible to account; repair the affected centers; and pay compensations for families of the victims.
Article 52 of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions states that “civilian objects shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals. Civilian objects are all objects which are not military objectives as defined in paragraph 2.” (Source: Syrian Coalitions’ Media Department)
