Eight civilians were killed and many others were wounded in explosions of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the Wadi al-Theeb valley in eastern rural Hama on Friday. Four civilians, including a woman, were wounded in rocket and artillery shelling by the Assad regime on the villages of Tal Minnis and Ma’arshammarin south of Idlib.
Local activists said that the UXO were cluster bombs that were previously dropped on the area by the Assad regime and Russian air forces. They exploded in a grazing land on Friday, killing eight herders and farmers as well as injuring many others.
UXO that were left behind following months of fighting between the Assad regime and ISIS in eastern rural Hama has killed and maimed dozens of civilians over the past months.
In rural Idlib, meanwhile, regime forces stationed in the village of Abu Dali southeast of Idlib shelled the towns of Tal Minnis and Ma’arshammarin with rockets, wounding a woman and a man who were rushed to a nearby medical center.
Many areas in rural Idlib and Hama have been subjected to frequent artillery and rocket shelling by the Assad regime and Russian forces although the area is covered by the Idlib Agreement calling for halt to military operations in the area. The shelling is causing many civilian casualties.
The Syrian Coalition denounced the international community’s total inaction towards what is happening on the ground and the tragic reality caused by the constant, indiscriminate shelling by the Assad regime and Iranian militias with Russia cover and in violation of the Idlib agreement.
In a press release issued on Thursday, the Coalition said that “the world is required not to waste more time; exert pressure on the Assad regime and its supporters to force them to commit to stopping crime and shelling; and push the political process forward in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the Geneva Communique of 2012.” (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
