Syria, Russia accused of ‘war crimes’

AMNESTY International on Monday said it has documented 18 attacks in northwest Syria carried out by regime and Russian forces over the past year that amounted to “war crimes”.

Russia-backed regime forces have since late April last year waged two deadly military campaigns against Syria’s last major rebel bastion of Idlib, which has become home for some three million people.

A ceasefire has largely held since early March, but hundreds of thousands remain displaced and highly dependent on aid even as the jihadistdominated region braces for a possible outbreak of the coronavirus.

The rights group said it documented 18 attacks on medical facilities and schools by either Damascus or its Russian ally between May 5, last year, and February 25, this year, in and around the rebel stronghold.

“Evidence shows that, in their entirety, the documented attacks by Syrian and Russian government forces entailed a myriad of serious violations of international humanitarian law,” it said. “These violations amount to war crimes.”

Amnesty said they included three ground attacks and two barrel bomb attacks by Syrian government forces, as well as air strikes by both or either side.

It said the majority occurred in January and February 2020, during the latest onslaught which from December has killed around 500 civilians and displaced almost a million people.

Syria’s war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.