Press release
Syrian Coalition – Syria
Department of Media and Communications
June 20, 2019
The Assad regime’s air force has carried out multiple airstrikes in Idlib and rural Hama over the past few hours, one of which resulted in the death of 12 civilians, including children, in addition to the injury of many others. The most violent of these airstrikes targeted a civilian gathering in the town of Benin in the southern countryside of Idlib in the evening hours of Wednesday.
The attack comes in the context of the intensifying brutal bombing campaign by the Assad regime, Russia and the Iranian militias in the demilitarized zone and across the ‘de-escalation zone’ in the northern Hama countryside and most of Idlib province. The bombardment killed at least 24 civilians, including women, children and civil defense volunteers in the past few hours. Another 34 civilians were also injured.
The deliberate, systematic targeting of civilians is a war crime that requires condemnation and intervention by the international community. Action is needed to deter the party waging war against the Syrian people with the help of sectarian foreign militias.
There will be no military solution in any part of Syria, nor will the status quo ante be restored. The Assad’s regime plans to reimpose itself on the Syrian people with iron and fire and with the help of foreign occupation and sectarian militias will drastically fail. The Syrian people will not once again liver under slavery and tyranny in any way or in any part of the country.
Whatever party is waiting for the surrender of the Syrian people is under complete illusion. This ongoing escalation by the Assad regime and its allies risks causing a new humanitarian crisis. We, therefore, warn of an imminent, multi-layered humanitarian disaster that the international community has a responsibility to avert.
As a representative of the Syrian people and their legitimate rights and aspirations, the Syrian Coalition calls on the United Nations and the active States to intervene and work on re-imposing the terms of the agreement on the region and the resumption of the political process in line with UN Security Council resolution 2254 while ensuring the rights of the Syrian people; the elimination of all forms of terrorism; and ending all regional support for it.
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