A 10-year-old child, named as Rawad Ahmad al Hammadin, was killed along with his older brother, Abdullah, and another civilian named as Muhammad Nouri al Musa, on June 23, 2021, when Syrian regime artillery forces used shells to target the cemetery in Iffes village the eastern suburbs of Idlib governorate while a woman’s funeral was taking place there. It should be noted that the shelling also beheaded the dead woman whose funeral was taking place.
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, Syrian 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 homes.
Photo shows the damage to the site where one of the shells fired by Syrian regime forces landed in the village cemetery.
