Amnesty International has confirmed the reports about attacks by the Assad regime forces with Russian backing targeting residential areas and vital facilities in Idlib province. Amnesty’s conclusions relied on eyewitness accounts, photos and videos, and satellite imagery.
Amnesty on Thursday said that the Assad regime forces, supported by Russia, hit a hospital, blood bank and other medical facilities as well as a bakery and a school in towns and cities under the control of armed opposition groups in Idlib.
These were direct attacks on civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks, Amnesty International said after verifying six attacks.
Many towns and villages were declared ‘disaster areas’ after weeks of relentless bombardment forced all of their residents to flee.
The Syrian Coalition described these attacks as constituting “war crimes,” calling on the international community to stop watching idly by and doing nothing other than counting the number of victims.
Amnesty went on to say that “the ongoing attacks in Idlib fit the same pattern we’ve seen before, in Aleppo, Dara’a, Damascus Countryside, whereby Syrian government forces hit hospitals, medical facilities, emergency responders, bakeries, schools, leaving people no choice but to flee.”
The Syrian Coalition condemned the Assad regime’s ongoing violations of the Idlib Agreement as it called on the international community to preserve the agreement and consolidate the ceasefire in place.
During a recent European tour, a delegation from the Coalition highlighted the Assad regime’s military escalation against civilians in Idlib. It stressed the importance of providing protection for civilians in the liberated areas to avoid a new humanitarian crisis and fresh waves of refugees to neighboring countries. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
