On Tuesday, August 22, 2023, at least two civilians were killed and five others injured when Russian warplanes struck the outskirts of the northwest Syrian city of Idlib.
Russian warplanes took off from Hmeimim Airbase in Latakia and carried out an air strike on Ain Sheeb village in Idlib.
The Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets) affirmed in a tweet that two civilians were killed and five others were wounded in the attack.
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.
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.
These serious human rights violations require urgent international intervention to hold those responsible to justice and provide protection to civilians during conflicts.
