Atarib media center said that at least 160 people were killed and injured in the Russian airstrikes that hit the town on Monday. It said that the wounded were taken to field hospitals in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, noting that those with serious injuries were transferred to Turkey for treatment.
The Syrian Coalition strongly condemned the “brutal crime which was committed by aircraft of the Russian occupation forces in the town of Atareb.” It noted that Russia continues to wriggle out of its commitments and obligations towards the ‘de-escalation zones’ agreement.
“Instead of changing its positions and exerting pressure on the Assad regime to force it to seriously participate in the Geneva process and abide by UN Security Council resolutions and engage in direct and serious negotiations, this crime one again demonstrated that Russia is unwilling to change its stance. The crime has also proved that Russia is determined to side with the Assad regime,” said the Coalition in a press release issued on Monday.
The Coalition held Russia “directly and fully responsible for the war crimes it has committed in Syria since the beginning of its direct military intervention in Syria as well as for the crimes of genocide and the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons and other internationally prohibited weapons.”
The Coalition called on the UN Security Council to condemn this massacre and its perpetrators as well as to prosecute them by all possible means as war criminals and to take serious action to protect Syrian civilians from these continued massacres.
The civil defense center in Atareb said it had collected the bodies of 53 victims and rescued dozens of those who were wounded. It added that rescue workers were still searching for missing persons under the rubble of bombed buildings. Videos and photos were published showing search and rescue operations which lasted until late at night.
The Directorate of Education in the town of Atareb announced it was suspending schools in the town “for fear of renewed airstrikes, while the town saw an exodus of civilians to nearby towns and villages. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
