In a new violation of the “de-escalation” agreement in northern Syria; Russian fighters bombed a residential area in Idlib Governorate, northwestern Syria, killing five civilians, including three children.
According to the Syrian Civil Defence (White Helmets), the five civilians killed in the Russian attack were from the same family. Another child was injured during the airstrike and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The air raids are the latest of a series of bloody attacks on civilians in Syrian opposition-held, densely populated areas by the Syrian regime and Russian warplanes.
In May 2017, Turkey, Russia, and Iran announced an agreement to establish a “de-escalation zone” in Idlib and parts of the countryside of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia, as part of the Astana meetings on Syria.
However, the Syrian regime forces and their supporters continued to attack the area from time to time, despite the ceasefire agreement signed on March 5, 2020.
A civil war began in Syria on March 18, 2011, after the Syrian regime launched a fierce crackdown on protests condemning human rights violations in the country.
Over the past few years, the Syrian regime has granted citizenship to a significant number of members of groups affiliated with Iran in exchange for their participation in the war against the opposition since 2011.
Meanwhile, millions of displaced people are currently living in camps in north and northwest Syria, as they fled the regime’s bombing of their villages, towns, and cities.
International humanitarian law prohibits targeting civilians and subjecting them to attack, whether a group or individuals and stresses respect for their lives, their physical and mental integrity, and their protection and humane treatment.
