Russia Covering Up War Crimes to Kill & Displace Syrians Exploiting International Silence

Press release

Syrian Coalition

Department of Media and Communications

September 9, 2018

Towns and villages in Idlib and Hama provinces were subjected to intense airstrikes by the Assad regime and Russian occupation’s air forces which rained missiles, cluster bombs, and barrel bombs on the region. The airstrikes coincided with rocket and artillery shelling by the Assad regime forces and Iranian terrorist militias on the region.

The ongoing barbaric bombardment of residential areas killed and injured a number of civilians, including children and women, among them infant girl Umayya al-Riz. The Syrian Civil Defense has so far not been able to assess the death toll. The airstrikes also directly hit two hospitals and a civil defense center in the past 48 hours, putting them out of service.

The Russian occupation forces are keenly seeking to repeat the scenario of aggression on Syrian towns and villages with the aim of destroying them as well as killing and displacing their people. Russia believes that the scenario that took place in eastern Ghouta and Dara’a province can be repeated in and around Idlib, exploiting the silence of the international community.

Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime are now planning and implementing a new series of war crimes and crimes against humanity with the aim of displacing more Syrians and completing the project of demographic change in Syria without provoking any response by the international community and international legitimacy.

The Syrian Coalition reminds all parties of the international community of their responsibilities towards the protection of civilians in Syria and the cessation of war crimes taking place in the country. We renew our calls on the UN Security Council to take immediate action to foil these plans before it is too late. It is imperative that the Council urgently adopt a resolution condemning the crimes of Russia, Iran and the Assad regime; ensure they stop immediately; and enforce UN resolutions on Syria, most importantly UN Security Council resolution 2254.

The Syrian Coalition stresses the right of the Free Syrian Army and all the Syrian people to defend themselves by all legitimate means as it calls for providing them with all necessary support to confront this aggression.