The Syrians entered the year 2022 as they had left the previous one: in a country torn by war and, for some of them, under bombardments by the Russian air force, active in the Syrian sky since 2015, date of the entry into the war of Russia alongside the forces of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. On Sunday January 2, two children and a woman were killed by strikes that targeted Idlib province, in the northwest of the country, while ten other people were injured, according to medical services.
“Russian forces and those of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime have continued to target civilians over the past five days in northwestern Syria, while the number of civilians killed in 2021 by these bombings is 225 people “, denounces the civil defense. The Syrian province suffered a fifth day of strikes in a row on Monday.
Russian aviation attacked around fifteen targets on Sunday and Monday, including two poultry farms and the water supply station in the city of Idlib, administrative capital and main urban center of this region where 4 million people live. . Half of them are displaced people who fled the fighting that ravaged other regions of the country. Some 1.6 million people continue to live in camps or precarious dwellings, according to a count by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. And nearly 75% of the population of Idlib province depends on humanitarian aid.
Controlled by the Islamists of Hayat Tahrir Al-Cham, heirs to the Syrian branch of Al-Qaida, this province was designated a “de-escalation zone” in 2017 following an agreement between Russia and Iran, allies of President Bashar Al-Assad, and Turkey, support for the rebels. The area has since been the subject of multiple ceasefire agreements, which have been frequently violated by the Syrian authorities and their allies. A fragile truce had been negotiated between Moscow and Ankara in March 2020, in response to months of fighting led by the power backed by Russia. Nearly a million people had fled the offensive of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad.
“These attacks must stop”
The attacks earlier this year are reviving fears of a new military campaign targeting civilian infrastructure. “A water station was badly damaged during a bombardment, lamented, Monday, Mark Cutts, deputy regional humanitarian coordinator of the United Nations for Syria. The country is already facing a water crisis and further destruction of civilian infrastructure will only cause more suffering to civilians. These attacks must stop ”, he insisted.
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