Civilian death toll mounts as Syrian offensive widens

[rooster59]

Civilian death toll mounts as Syrian offensive widens

 

FILE PHOTO: A man rides on a motorbike past rubble of damaged buildings in the city of Idlib, Syria May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

 

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes have killed more than two dozen civilians in northwestern Syria in the last two days in an escalation of a Russian-backed offensive against the last major rebel stronghold, a war monitor and local activists said on Saturday.

 

An air strike in the village of Deir Sharki killed seven members of one family, most of them children, on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Another seven people were killed by bombardments in other areas, it said.

 

On Friday, air strikes in the village of al-Haas killed 13 people. The dead included a pregnant woman and her unborn baby, local activists and the Observatory said. They had been seeking shelter after fleeing another area.

 

The bombardment forced a wave of people to flee northwards from the targeted areas, the Observatory and local activists said.

 

"They are bombing the towns and their outskirts to push people to flee," Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said, adding that hundreds of families had been uprooted from areas that had so far largely been spared in the almost four-month offensive.

 

The Syrian state news agency SANA said the army was continuing operations against "the terrorist organisations in rural Idlib" and had widened its area of control around the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, currently a focal point of the offensive.

 

Russia and Syria have said their forces are not targeting civilians but militants including the Nusra Front, a jihadist group known today as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

 

FIERCE CLASHES

 

Ahmad al-Dbis, safety and security manager for the U.S.-based Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), which supports medical facilities in the northwest, said the bombardment had widened into populated areas where there were no military positions.

 

"They are being targeted to drive the people towards forced displacement," he told Reuters.

 

Dbis said the number of civilians killed by government or Russian forces stood at more than 730 since late April. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said more than 500 civilians have died in hostilities.

 

The northwestern region including Idlib province is part of the last major foothold of the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

 

The government advance towards Khan Sheikhoun threatens to encircle the last remaining pocket of rebel-held territory in neighbouring Hama province.

 

Captain Naji Musafa, spokesman for the rebel National Liberation Front, said fierce clashes were raging in the southern part of Idlib province and adjoining areas of Hama province.

 

France called on Friday for an immediate end to the fighting and in particular condemned air strikes on camps for the displaced.

 

The upsurge in violence has already forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee towards the border with Turkey, which backs some of the rebels in the northwest and has its own troops on the ground in the area.

 

The National Army, a Turkish-backed Syrian rebel force based north of the city of Aleppo, said technical problems had prevented it sending reinforcements to help the Idlib rebels, as it had promised on Friday.

 

(Reporting by Tom Perry and Ellen Francis in Beirut and Khalil Ashawi in Turkey; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-18

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[RichardColeman]

Great advertisement again for Islam

[Srikcir]

Great advertisement for Trump's foreign policy - let civilians eat bullets.

[Dumbastheycome]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

Great advertisement again for Islam

If both sides are followers of Islam where is the pertinence of your comment?

[from the home of CC]

I'm sure the Russians and Syrians feel emboldened to commit genocide unimpeded as the world watches for the supposed 'red lines' have been crossed so repeatedly they've become meaningless. The Syrian population which is anti Assad is headed for extermination and there will be no cavalry arriving for there is no political upside to the whole affair.  

[Brigand]

I can't seriously believe that there are people on here that think the US and Europe should ride into another never-ending military adventure in the Islamic world (who all hate each other) and that they are being blamed for the killing instead of the butchers Putin & Assad & Erdogan ... please, come on. 

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

If both sides are followers of Islam where is the pertinence of your comment?

Makes it even more pertinent........!

[simple1]

4 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Great advertisement again for Islam

Idlib Province has long been prepared as a killing ground by the Syrians and Russians. During the various surrenders by Islamist forces throughout Syria during the past few years they have mainly been trucked to Idlib Province. There also are an estimated 3 million civilians in the area, although talked about for years, without any safe zones for civilian protection, Turkey has closed its border. Quite possible for a major humanitarian disaster.

[Morch]

7 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Great advertisement for Trump's foreign policy - let civilians eat bullets.

 

The Syrian Civil War started well before Trump got into office. The USA's options with regard to doing much about it were limited to begin with. And, it's kinda doubtful that criticism would be forthcoming if Trump would have chosen to forcefully intervene. It's rather dishonest pinning all of it on Trump - even if one opposes his foreign policies, or indeed, his presidency.

 

Apparently, it's nothing to do with the Syrian regime. Nothing to do with Russia. Nothing to do with extreme Islamist outfits. And obviously, nothing to do with the previous administration.