UN reports 230 civilians were killed over the past week in air strikes by Assad's and Russian air forces in Syria
Over the past week, 277 civilians were killed in Syria, 230 of whom perished in air strikes by the government forces of Bashar al-Assad and their allies, including Russia. This data was presented in Geneva by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Saturday, February 10, Deutsche Welle reports.
According to the UN, another 812 Syrian civilians were injured. "The past week has been one of the bloodiest periods of the entire conflict," Al Hussein said. Most of the air strikes took place in the Syrian opposition-controlled territories of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus and Idlib in the northwest of the country.
"The no-holds-barred nature of this assault is evidenced by reports that at least nine medical facilities were hit by air strikes," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights added. Al Hussein also mentioned the rocket attacks on populated areas of Damascus from the opposition-held territories, that killed seven civilians and wounded 18.
He stressed that the bombing of civilians in Eastern Ghouta, Idlib and Damascus constitute war crimes. "After seven years of paralysis in the UN Security Council, the situation in Syria is crying out to be referred to the International Criminal Court [in The Hague]," Al Hussein concluded.
The current data shows an alarming escalation from earlier reports that nearly 180 people were the victims of the Russian and Syrian attacks on Ghouta and Idlib.