Assad Aircrafts Bomb Two Schools in Deir Ezzor

Press Statement

Syrian Coalition

Istanbul, Turkey

October 21, 2013

The Syrian Coalition calls for intensified international efforts to stop Assad’s use of all kinds of weapons used to kill the Syrian people. Each day that passes, the Syrian people lose more of their beloved fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters at the hands of Assad’s murderous forces.

On Sunday morning, October 20, immediately after the end of the holiday of Eid al-Adha, the regime’s military aircrafts dropped bombs on two schools in Deir Ezzor. Around five students and two female schoolteachers died. Dozens more were injured.

Similarly, on September 29, 2013, the Assad regime’s air force carried out an airstrike on Ibn Tufayl secondary school in Raqqa killing at least 14 students. The strike came as students gathered in the schoolyard for recess. Dismembered bodies of students eager to pursue an education even amidst the danger, scattered all over the school yard, in a horrifying scene.

The continued systematic targeting of innocent civilians, in particular children, only demonstrates the bloodthirsty nature of Assad's brutal regime. The international community has a moral obligation to put an end to Assad’s willingness and ability to kill.

We ask for Mercy for our martyrs, health for our wounded, and freedom for our detainees.

Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.