U.N. laments “international indifference” to rising death toll in Syria
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Air strikes by the Syrian government and its allies on schools, hospitals, markets and bakeries have killed at least 103 civilians in the past 10 days, including 26 children, U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in a statement on Friday.
Bachelet added that the rising toll had been met with “apparent international indifference”.
The UN Human Rights Chief said her Office has documented the killing of at least 450 civilians, including the 91 killed by airstrikes over the past ten days, since the latest campaign by the Government and its allies in north-west Syria began more than three months ago.
She said her staff is also continuing to gather information on three recent attacks, resulting in at least 11 civilian casualties, carried out by non-state armed groups on government-controlled areas, in the town of Masyaf, in Hama (21 July), and in the al-Hamadaniya and al-Jamiliya neighbourhoods of Aleppo city (on 22 and 24 July).
The government began its offensive against the rebel enclave in northwest Syria, the last area of active insurgent opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, at the end of April, saying it was responding to violations of a truce.
Idlib and surrounding areas of the northwest were included in a “de-escalation” deal last year between Assad’s main ally Russia and Turkey, which backs some rebel groups, to reduce warfare and bombardment.
Over the past three months, the offensive has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes or temporary shelters to seek refuge near the border with Turkey and has killed hundreds of civilians, according to war monitoring groups.
