At least seven children are confirmed to have been killed in an attack on the village of Mhambel in northwest Syria on Friday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said. It has been reported that most of those who lost their lives were internally displaced, having already been forced from their communities by previous waves of fighting.
“This latest outrage adds to the mounting child casualties caused by intensifying violence over the past few weeks, including in Al Wadihi, southern Idlib, northern Aleppo and northern Hama,” said UNICEF chief, Henrietta Fore, in a statement released on Sunday.
“The obvious disregard for the safety and wellbeing of children evident in these attacks is appalling. My heart breaks for the young lives lost and for all the children in the area who remain in harm’s way.”
Fore went on: “I strongly and unequivocally urge the parties to the conflict and those who have influence over them to ensure that children in the northwest and across the country are protected from the ongoing violence.”
The attack on Mhambel came as part of the Assad regime and Russia’s escalation of the bombardment of northwestern Syria in the past few months, including southern rural Idlib, northern rural Aleppo and northern rural Hama. According to the UNICEF, at least 140 children have been killed in northwest Syria since the start of this year.
Helicopters of the Assad regime committed a horrific massacre in the village of Mhambel in rural Idlib on Friday claiming the lives of 14 people, mostly children and women, who were killed when barrel bombs hit the village.
Residents of many towns and villages in Idlib province continue to flee to IDP camps near the border with Turkey as a result of the systematic ground and aerial bombing campaign by the Assad regime and Russian forces in the region. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
