Assad’s Continued Bombardment of Civilians

Press Statement

Khalid Saleh

Syrian Coalition Media Office President

April 3, 2014

We condemn the Assad regime’s latest escalation of violence against civilians in Syria. Yesterday, Assad’s forces dropped more than 14 barrel bombs on different parts of Aleppo province. According to activists, scores of civilians were killed and injured, including women and children, as the Assad regime intensified its campaign of indiscriminate bombardment of residential areas.

Ground-to-ground rockets, fired by Assad’s forces, also fell on the main marketplace in the town of Kafr Batna, rural Damascus, killing at least 10 civilians and wounding many. Other areas were also under heavy shelling including Zabadani, Ashrafiat al Wadi, and Khan al Sheih in rural Damascus.

Assad’s systematic bombardment of civilian populations as a collective punishment for opposing its rule amounts to war crimes. Those crimes should be investigated and their perpetrators brought to justices. The UN Security Council has a duty to maintain international peace and security, and neutralizing Assad’s air force to protect innocent civilians is definitely one of the many things the UNSC should do to fulfill that duty.