In a series of devastating attacks, the Assad regime launched guided missiles at civilians in Kafr Nouran, a village in western Aleppo province, resulting in the deaths of two children and severe injury of an infant. The attacks on Tuesday, May 28, underscore the continued violence faced by Syrian civilians amidst the ongoing conflict.
The first attack targeted a civilian vehicle with an anti-tank missile, causing it to catch fire. Residents managed to extinguish the flames before the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, arrived. No casualties were reported from this initial strike.
A subsequent missile strike on the same day hit an agricultural harvester and a civilian car on the Kafr Nouran-Atareb road. This attack killed Mahmoud Muhammad Darwish, 9, and Riyad Rahhal, 7, and critically injured Mahmoud’s 2-year-old brother, Dirar Darwish. The children were playing near their homes when the missile struck.
“His treatment journey ended, but not with recovery, but with death,” the White Helmets reported, referring to Mahmoud Darwish who was recovering from cancer. “Mahmoud spent long days receiving treatment, only to die today at the hands of the regime forces with a targeted missile.”
Sameh Fakhoury, a White Helmets volunteer, described the harrowing experience of informing the families of their children’s deaths. “I was hoping, for the first time, that someone other than my colleagues would do this task,” he said. “When we went to deliver the body of one of the martyred children, his mother was at the door waiting for us… she was crying and saying, ‘Don’t take him from me, leave him for me.’ I couldn’t hold back my tears.”
This attack follows a pattern of violence against civilians by Assad’s forces. Earlier this month a series of regime attacks killed several children and on May 18, regime forces targeted a civilian car in the town of Tadil, injuring seven family members. Earlier in May, artillery shelling in Abzimo killed a child and seriously injured his mother.
The White Helmets condemned the ongoing attacks, emphasizing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria and the lack of accountability for the Assad regime. “The regime’s guided missiles are an approach to their policy of killing Syrians,” they stated. “Death awaits them in light of a humanitarian tragedy that worsens day by day.”
As international focus on the Syrian conflict wanes, the regime continues its campaign of violence with impunity, leaving civilians to bear the brunt of the conflict. The need for justice and accountability remains paramount for the victims and their families.
