Press release
Syrian Coalition – Syria
Department of Media and Communications
July 8, 2019
As the criminal attacks on Idlib and Hama are escalating, the Syrian Coalition calls on all international actors to take immediate action to prevent the Assad regime’s helicopters from flying over Syria’s northwest and dropping barrel bombs on unarmed civilians. Action is also needed to neutralize the airbases from which warplanes are taking off to target civilians.
The Coalition calls for the urgent establishment of a military mechanism to deal with, disband, and put an end to the presence of terrorist militias being brought in with the aim of killing and displacing the Syrian people.
The towns and villages in northern rural Hama and southern rural Idlib are subjected to criminal aggression and an escalating military campaign that turned into an all-out war being waged by the Assad regime and the Russian-backed militias against the Syrian people. The attacks by jets, helicopters, and heavy artillery on towns and villages have resulted in the deaths of 17 people in the past few hours. They have also left dozens of people wounded, the majority of whom were children and women.
At least 60 airstrikes have targeted civilian homes and residential areas in more than 50 towns and villages, with cluster bombs and barrel bombs extensively used in these attacks.
The escalating campaign being launched by the Assad regime backed by the Russian air force is clearly aimed at imposing a fait accompli on the international community through the mass killing of civilians, displacing them and forcing it to pay the price.
The heroic resistance being shown by the Free Syrian Army in the face of this barbarity and the determination of the FSA fighters to fend off any progress by the regime and its allies on the ground have confirmed that the international position is the decisive factor. Anyone who insists on a military solution will cause more innocent victims. It is imperative, therefore, that the United Nations shoulder its responsibilities with regards to the crimes of the regime, Iran and Russia against the Syrian people as well as their e violations of the existing agreements and their continuous attempts to undermine all chances for a political solution.
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