Syrian, Russian airstrikes in Idlib amount to war crimes, as do jihadist attacks: U.N.

Record ID: 1561099

  • Title: Syrian, Russian airstrikes in Idlib amount to war crimes, as do jihadist attacks: U.N.
  • Date: 7th July 2020
  • Summary: SARAQEB AREA, SYRIA (FILE - FEBRUARY 28, 2020) (REUTERS) LARGE PLUMES OF SMOKE BILLOWING OUT / AUDIO OF CLASHES HEARD IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF SMOKE BILLOWING OUT FROM AREA MACHINE GUN MOUNTED FLATBED TRUCKS CARRYING TURKEY-BACKED REBELS DRIVING SMOKE BILLOWING OUT FROM BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 21st July 2020 15:49
  • Keywords: Geneva Syria United Nations attacks crimes against humanity jihadists war crimes
  • Location: NEAR HAZANO, MAARAT AL-NUMAN, SARAQEB AND AZAZ, SYRIA / SAO PAULO, BRAZIL / NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / EDIRNE, TURKEY
  • City: NEAR HAZANO, MAARAT AL-NUMAN, SARAQEB AND AZAZ, SYRIA / SAO PAULO, BRAZIL / NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / EDIRNE, TURKEY
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Government/Politics,United Nations
  • Reuters ID: LVA005CLTAC07
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Syrian and Russian planes have carried out deadly aerial strikes amounting to war crimes on schools, hospitals and markets in Idlib province, U.N. investigators said on Tuesday (July 7) in a report that also condemned attacks by jihadist fighters.
    They said that "indiscriminate bombardment" by pro-government forces, ahead of a March ceasefire brokered with Turkey, claimed hundreds of lives and forced nearly one million civilians to flee, which may amount to a crime against humanity.
    The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria also accused Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist group that controls part of northwest Syria, of firing artillery into civilian areas "with no apparent legitimate military objective".
    Fighters from HTS, a group formerly known as Nusra Front, have tortured and executed detainees, it added.
    The report, covering November 2019 until June 2020, was based on overflight data and witness testimony.
    It examines 52 "emblematic attacks" in northwest Syria, including 47 attributed to the Russian-backed Syrian government.
    Russian warplanes were solely implicated in a deadly March 5 strike on a poultry farm near Marat Misrin that sheltered displaced people and in three strikes next to a hospital damaged in the rebel-held town of Ariha on Jan. 29, the report said. Russia denies involvement in the latter attack, it said.
    The region is home to a mix of Islamist militant and opposition groups, many of which fled other parts of Syria as President Bashar al-Assad, with Russian backing, seized back territory from them.
    (Production: Cecile Mantovani)
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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