The Syrian Interim Government’s Free Hama Governorate Council on Friday issued an appealed to international bodies, human rights organizations and guarantor states to assume their commitments and put an end to the Assad regime forces and their allies fierce onslaught on the provinces of Hama and Idlib.
In a statement it published on Facebook, the Council called on civilians to demonstrate on Saturday to demand the return to their homes and to denounce the Assad regime, Russian, and Iranian occupation of their areas.
The Council pointed out that the continued onslaught on rural Hama and Idlib aims to displace the people of the region as the Assad regime, with direct support from the Russian air force and Iranian militias, is targeting schools, hospitals, civil defense centers, and infrastructure.
The relentless combing campaign has so far killed hundreds of people and displaced more than 500,000 people from their homes, the Council said, calling on the rebel forces to close ranks and unite to defend the liberated areas.
The Syrian Coalition earlier warned of dire consequences should the Assad regime and its allies continue with attempts to recapture the liberated areas. It also warned of a major humanitarian disaster resulting from the targeting of civilians and a possible new, huge wave of refugees towards Europe.
Thousands of displaced people currently stay out in the open and unofficial camps in northern and western rural Idlib, as more families are being displaced from rural Hama and Idlib by the regime, Russia and sectarian militias continued fierce campaign against the two provinces. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)Syrian Coalition Emphasizes UN Security Council Role in Protecting Civilians and Stopping Onslaught on Idlib
Vice-President of the Syrian Coalition, Badr Jamous, called on the UN Security Council to take a clear, firm stance towards the Assad regime’s grave military campaign against Idlib and rural Hama. He stressed that the ongoing bombing campaign will have a negative impact on the political process and the humanitarian situation.
“The UN Security Council’s failure to protect civilians means that the lives of more than four million people will be at huge risk,” Jamous said in a special statement on Friday. “The UN Security Council is required to ensure protection for civilians in Idlib and Hama and provide them with urgent humanitarian and medical aid.
Jamous warned of yet the biggest wave of refugees to outside Syria absent a serious action by the UN Security Council today to stop the ongoing military operations targeting civilians.
The UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the situation in Idlib. The meeting is a follow-up to the closed session it held last week, during which several countries expressed concern about a possible humanitarian disaster in Idlib.
The meeting will discuss the dire humanitarian situation in the region, the possibility of a ceasefire, and revitalization of the political process.
Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric, on Thursday said that the United Nations is closely following the recent developments and military escalation in Idlib.
Dujarric said that that aerial attacks on population centers and civilian infrastructure resulted in hundreds of civilians dead and injured and over 180,000 newly displaced persons since late April. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
