Press release
Syrian National Coalition – Syria
Department of Media and Communications
February 17, 2020
The brutal onslaught being launched by the Russian and Iranian occupation as well as the Assad regime forces on rural Aleppo has triggered a major humanitarian catastrophe over the past few hours and led to more killing, destruction, and displacement. The ground assault on the region followed weeks of relentless aerial bombardment by the Russian air force directly targeting many towns and villages.
Russian jets on Monday bombed two hospitals in western rural Aleppo, an atrocious crime it has long pursued and which has been documented dozens of times before. Last year Russian airstrikes hit four hospitals in just 12 hours.
The international community, the UN Security Council, international organizations, and Arab and friendly states have a responsibility to protect civilians. Today they are facing a moral, humanitarian, and legal challenge before their people in the first place and all peoples who demand freedom and justice.
Limiting the response to the expression of concern in the face of a catastrophe of this magnitude is anything but a responsible behavior nor does it reflect any human or moral values, especially since there is already something that can be done to spare hundreds of thousands of civilians death and displacement.
The Syrian people will not forget the states that stood by their side in their battle against oppression and tyranny, nor will they forget those who have committed the most heinous crimes against them and remained silent about the atrocities they are enduring. The Syrian people will not give up until Syria is fully liberated from the Russian and Iranian occupation and the authoritarian regime.
The Syrian National Coalition renews its calls on the international community to establish an international mechanism ensuring an immediate end to the criminal assault on Aleppo and Idlib provinces as well as to urgently provide the displaced people with badly needed humanitarian aid.
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