Russian Occupation Airstrikes Kill 23 Civilians in Rural Deir Ezzor

Press release

Syrian Coalition

Media Department

December 8, 2017

Syria continues to witness more killings of civilians by the Russian occupation forces. The Syrian people now view the international community as an accomplice as it remains silent about these crimes.

As part of the series of massacres it is committing in Syria, Russian jets on Tuesday (December 5) bombed the town of Al-Jaradi in eastern rural Deir Ezzor, killing 23 people, mostly from one family and wounding dozens more. The victims included many women and children.

The airstrikes targeted a residential neighborhood, commercial shops near the town's mosque, and a bus carrying displaced persons fleeing the brutal indiscriminate airstrikes that do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

This massacre, along with the litany of other massacres, constitutes blatant violation of international conventions on the protection of civilians and their safety in wartime. Under international law, these crimes must be investigated and their perpetrators must be held accountable as they are classified as deliberate targeting of civilians.

The Syrian Coalition holds Russia directly and fully responsible for the war crimes its forces have been committing against civilians across Syrian since the beginning of its military intervention. Russia also bears primary responsibility for supporting genocide and the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons and other banned weapons.

The UN Security Council is obliged more than ever to condemn the massacre and its perpetrators; to prosecute war criminals by all possible means; and to take serious, urgent action to protect Syrian civilians.