Civil Authorities Urge Int’l Action to Protect Civilians in Idlib

ARK News: Civil authorities in Idlib province condemned the Assad regime’s continued targeting of residential areas and vital civilian centers in the towns and villages in southern rural Idlib. They called on the international community to "intervene urgently" to protect civilians in the province.

The civic bodies pointed out that the shelling resulted in dozens of deaths among civilians, including women and children as well as injured dozens more and forced many civilians to flee the area to safer areas.

The Emergency Response Coordinators Team said that the Assad regime and Russian forces shelled no fewer than 40 towns and villages in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, and Hama, killing and wounding 11 civilians, including children and women.

The Team pointed out that the relentless shelling is aimed at emptying these areas of their population as they stressed that these attacks constituted "war crimes and demographic change." They called on the international community to put an end to these "terrorist attacks" against civilians and to bring those responsible to the International Criminal Court.

The aid group stressed the need to declare a state of emergency in northern Syria and to begin operations to respond to the wave of displacement caused by the constant shelling.

Idlib province has been subjected to intensifying artillery and rocket shelling by the Russian and regime forces, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians and the injury of hundreds more although the area is covered by the Idlib agreement calling for a halt to the shelling in the area.

Source: Syrian Coalition

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