For three consecutive days, Russian forces, the Assad regime, and their allied Iranian militias have launched an unprecedented campaign of indiscriminate violence across northwestern Syria. These attacks, targeting displaced persons (IDP) camps, residential neighborhoods, civilian workplaces, and vital infrastructure, have left a trail of death, injury, and devastation in their wake, all in blatant violation of international law.
Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) Prime Minister Muhammad Al-Bashir condemned these escalating assaults, which killed at least 10 and left 43 others injured. The relentless bombings have sparked widespread panic among civilians, triggering large waves of displacement as families flee in search of safety.
The scope of the assaults has widened dramatically, with the aggressors now targeting areas that were once considered relatively safe. Displaced families residing in camps are no longer spared, and even farmers in the fields, harvesting their olives – a critical source of livelihood in the region – have been subjected to bombings. One of the most egregious attacks occurred at the Al-Bara archaeological site in Jabal Al-Zawiya, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The strikes have caused irreparable damage to this culturally significant location.
Al-Bashir detailed the swift response of local authorities to the unfolding disaster. Ministry of Health hospitals have worked tirelessly to care for the injured, while the Ministry of Development and Humanitarian Affairs has begun preparing emergency shelters to accommodate those displaced by the ongoing violence. The Ministry of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Green Energy electrical company, initiated repairs on the Al-Jilani station, essential for resuming water pumping from the Ain Al-Zarqa station, a critical resource for the region.
Yesterday, a Russian massacre on the outskirts of Idlib City killed 10 civilians, with 32 more suffering severe injuries. The attack targeted a furniture manufacturing workshop and an olive press, both filled with workers at the time. According to the White Helmets, Syria’s Civil Defense organization, the carnage was overwhelming. Laith Al-Abdullah, a White Helmets volunteer, described the devastation: “The destruction was great, and the number of victims was large. We tried with all our might to rescue the largest number of workers and civilians from under the rubble. The work was difficult, but the hope was great.”
In the wake of the massacre, Al-Abdullah expressed his profound frustration at the international community’s silence: “I’m very sad about the international silence on the killing of Syrians, and the absence of news about Syria from the world, without no concern for the lives of [Syrian] civilians.”
The same day, regime forces killed a girl of five in artillery shelling targeting their homes between the villages of Maarbalit and Maarzaf in the Idlib countryside. In another act of brutality, a shepherd was wounded when Russian airstrikes hit the forest of the village of Yusuf. Six more civilians, including four children, were injured in rocket attacks on the village of Al-Mohsenli, east of Aleppo, where regime forces and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) share control.
Over 50 Russian airstrikes terrorized Syria and killed civilians at a stone quarry in the village of Al-Habat, agricultural lands near Mutram, and forested areas around Idlib. While Assad regime artillery and missile attacks rained down on the villages of Al-Nayrab and Frika, and the city of Jisr Al-Shughour. Tuesday, a young man was killed and eight others were wounded in artillery shelling on Atarib, west of Aleppo.
The White Helmets released a report detailing the devastation caused by the recent escalations. It highlighted the toll from the Russian airstrikes on civilian facilities, with fears that the death toll will rise given the severity of the injuries sustained by many of the victims. Wednesday alone saw 11 civilians killed and 39 others injured across northwestern Syria, including in Idlib and Aleppo.
The Syrian Negotiating Commission has decried these atrocities as yet another crime against the Syrian people, adding to the Assad regime’s already extensive record of war crimes and brutality. The Commission issued an urgent call for the international community to take decisive action and hold the regime and its supporters accountable, stating that such “heinous crimes must stir the sleeping global conscience towards the Syrians.”
“The international community’s silence and disregard for the ongoing killing of Syrians is enough,” the Commission stressed. “Deterrent measures must be taken to protect the blood of Syrians.”
