Large areas of agricultural land were burnt on July 26, 2020, due to Syrian regime heavy artillery bombardment and shelling using missile launchers around the villages of al Kenda and Mar’and, which are administratively a part of Jisr al Shoghour city in the western suburbs of Idlib governorate, and around the village of Barza in the northern suburbs of Latakia governorate. SNHR can confirm that the farmland in question is owned by civilians and free of any military presence or equipment.
Through this action, the Syrian regime has, without doubt, committed another violation of Security Council resolutions 2139 and 2254, which prohibited any further indiscriminate attacks, as well as violating the rules of international humanitarian law which stress the distinction between civilians and combatants. Such attacks spread panic and terror among civilians, leading them to flee their lands and homes seeking safety, and forcibly displacing them, with the number of internally displaced persons in Syria currently estimated at approximately 6.5 million Syrian citizens. The international community should put pressure on the Syrian regime and its allies to compensate the displaced victims, rehabilitate homes and vital centers, support the process of political transition and put pressure on all parties to implement the political transition process according to a strict timetable which must not exceed six months, which would enable millions of IDPs to return homes.
