Press Release
Syrian Coalition – Syria
Department of Media and Communications
April 30, 2019
The Assad regime forces, backed by the Russian air force and Iranian militias, intensified the bombing campaign in northwestern rural Hama on Monday, targeting dozens of cities and towns including al-Latamina, al-Habeet, Kafarzeita, Kifranbouda, and Qalat al-Madiq.
Local activists and the civil defense teams said that more than 375 shells and rockets as well as 30 air strikes pummeled the area, targeting residential neighborhoods and the roads connecting towns and villages in the region.
The intensified bombing campaign, which caused dozens of civilian casualties in al-Latamina and Qalat al-Madiq, is clearly aimed at the mass forced displacement of the local population The bombings forced the entire population of Kifranbouda to flee, in addition to thousands of residents of Qalat al-Madiq and other towns who flocked to relatively safer areas in Syria’s north.
It is imperative that the international community intervene urgently to prevent this situation from escalating further and to exert pressure to put an end to this criminal campaign targeting civilians and seeking to empty the area of its people.
This bombing campaign is the continuation of relentless attacks on Idlib and Hama provinces in violation of the Idlib agreement and the Geneva Convention amid total inaction by the international community and its failure to assume its responsibilities to maintain of the safety and security of civilians.
The Coalition stresses the need for the major players to take urgent action to save the lives of civilians in Idlib and Hama, especially women and children; to put an end to the bombing campaign and the mass forced displacement; and prevent further civilian casualties.
