On July 3, 2021, fixed-wing warplanes which we believed were Russian used missiles to target the Civil Defense Center near al Sheikh Yousef village in Sahl al Rouj in the western suburbs of Idlib governorate, resulting in the injury of five SCD personnel, damaging the center’s structure and two vehicles belonging to the center. SNHR can confirm that the SCD center is far from any residential area and free of any military equipment or presence and that it uses a building of al Rouj Water station as its headquarter.
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 homes.
