Air strikes that hit a school in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province killed 22 children and six teachers, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said Wednesday.
“This is a tragedy. It is an outrage. And if deliberate, it is a war crime,” said UNICEF director Anthony Lake.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “warplanes — either Russia or Syrian — carried out six strikes” in the village of Hass, including on a school complex, killing 11 schoolchildren.
Lake said the school compound was “repeatedly attacked,” adding that it may be the deadliest attack on a school since the war began more than five years ago.
A photograph circulated on social media showed a child’s arm, seared off above the elbow, still clutching the strap of a dusty black rucksack.
“When will the world’s revulsion at such barbarity be matched by insistence that this must stop?” added the UNICEF director.
Asked about the attack, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin responded: “It’s horrible, horrible. I hope we were not involved.”
“It’s easy for me to say ‘no’ but I’m a responsible person. I need to see what our minister of defense is going to say,” he told reporters.
Syrian government forces and their Russian ally have been accused by Western powers and rights groups of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure.
More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syria and over half of the country’s population displaced since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
Source: Arab News
GMT 15:03 2017 Thursday ,14 December
US-led air strikes kill 23 civilians in Syria: monitorGMT 05:58 2017 Sunday ,08 October
Strikes kill 13 civilians in Syria townGMT 15:38 2017 Monday ,01 May
Regime airstrikes destroy 7 hospitals in Syria’s IdlibGMT 20:25 2016 Monday ,05 December
Death toll in Idlib air strikes rises to 73GMT 20:13 2016 Friday ,09 September
2 senior Jaish al-Fatah leaders killed by Aleppo countryside air strikesMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor