White Helmets rescue victim of Assad regime strikes on Ariha, Idlib Province, northwest Syria, July 27, 2019
UPDATE 1830 GMT:
A doctor in Idlib Province uploads a brief clip of treatment of a young victim of the pro-Assad attacks.
Coward regime… because they are losing the battle on the front line, they attack women and children in residential areas. #idlib #syria pic.twitter.com/f4gTDAYryA
— Dr Shajul Islam (@DrShajulIslam) July 27, 2019
Pro-Assad forces continued their mass killing of civilians on Saturday across northwest Syria.
At least 11 people were killed and more than 22 wounded in Ariha in southern Idlib Province. Other residents were pulled out from rubble in the city center.
The first moments of White Helmets teams rescuing a girl and a man from under the rubble alive, in #Ariha City southern of #Idlib, after regime’s airstrikes targeted the city this morning. pic.twitter.com/mLHjmJubZi
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) July 27, 2019
Ariha, on the M4 highway between Idlib city and Syria’s Mediterranean coast, was also hit last Wednesday. At least 10 civilians were killed. Among them was a 5-year-old girl who was photographed rescuing her infant sister from the edge of a destroyed building.
See Syria Daily, July 25: Another Pro-Assad Mass Killing in Idlib Province
In neighboring Hama Province, three more medics were killed when their ambulance was bombed.
In the past three months, more than 10 medical staff and rescuers have been slain by Russia-regime airstrikes, which have targeted at least 31 medical centers and 35 civil defense positions and vehicles.
Mustafa al-Hassan, Abdul Basit Mubarak, Suleiman Mohammed, sacrificed their lives today for #Syria.. We join our colleagues in #Hama health Directorate in mourning for the fallen heroes who were killed by a direct Russian strike targeted their ambulance during their work. pic.twitter.com/kYy6jKoJ2K
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) July 27, 2019
On Friday, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet emphasized, “Intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes, and those who have ordered them or carried them out are criminally responsible for their actions.” However, she noted the “failure of leadership by the world’s most powerful nations” to stop the assaults.
Since late April, the Russian-regime attacks — shattering a demilitarized zone declared by Russia and Turkey last September — have killed more than 700 civilians and wounded more than 2,200 people. At least 330,000 of Idlib and northern Hama Province’s 3 million population — about 20% of those remaining in Syria — have been displaced.
Frustrated over their stalled offensive in northwest Hama, Russia and the regime have stepped up bombardment across Idlib in the past two weeks, killing at least 120 people.
Scenes from the white helmets operations on retrieving victims from the rubble of their destroyed houses, after regime warplanes struck #Ariha City this morning. 11 people were killed and more than 22 injured, most of them displaced from #Sinjar City eastern #Idlib. pic.twitter.com/huGFouJeSD
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) July 27, 2019