Artillery forces which we believe to be Russian fired a shell equipped with a Krasnopol laser guidance system at a house in the middle of Ebleen village in the southern suburbs of the governorate on June 10, 2021, killing and injuring a number of civilians. When other families rushed to treat the injured and recover victims’ bodies, the artillery forces again targeted the same site, killing at least 11 individuals, including a child and a woman, in addition to three fighters.
SNHR notes that this shelling is a breach of the ceasefire agreement reached following consultations between the Turkish and Russian presidents, which came into effect on March 6, 2020.
Through this action, Russian forces have, without doubt, committed another violation of Security Council resolutions 2139 and 2254 which prohibit any further indiscriminate attacks, as well as violating the rules of international humanitarian law which stress the distinction between civilians and combatants. Attacks of this nature spread terror and panic among civilians, leading them to flee their lands and homes in an attempt to reach safety, and forcibly displacing them, with the number of internally displaced persons within Syria currently standing at approximately 6.5 million Syrian citizens in total. The international community should put pressure on the Syrian regime and its allies to force them to compensate the displaced victims, rehabilitate homes and vital centers, support the process of political transition, and press all parties to pursue implementation of political transition according to a strict timetable which must not exceed six months, thus enabling millions of IDPs to return to their homes.
