SNHR documented the extrajudicial killings of five civilians, by Syrian Democratic forces and Syrian regime forces/ Russian forces, on Saturday, October 16, 2021, with the toll of victims distributed as follows:
Syrian Democratic forces: a civilian
Syrian regime forces/ Russian forces: four civilians
We note that the four civilians were killed in an attack took place in Sarmada city in Idlib suburbs. We have so far been unable to identify the party responsible for the attack with the primary parties suspected of responsibility for the attack being Russian and Syrian regime forces, since the shelling emanated from an area controlled by them. The investigation process is still underway to specifically identify the party responsible for the bombing.
SNHR issues this daily brief report of the death toll of Syrian civilians who were killed, against all the tenets of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, by all the dominant parties in Syria. SNHR’s work on these reports has lasted for nine years to date, during which time not one day has passed without civilian victims being killed in Syria. SNHR condemns all operations by any party which result in the deaths of civilians, and confirms that the regime and its allies are responsible for the vast majority- 91 percent – of the killings in the country, with the total death toll of civilian victims documented by SNHR exceeding a quarter of a million victims, although the estimated unofficial death toll is far larger.
Accordingly, SNHR calls on the international community to intervene and protect civilians in Syria by taking all the necessary steps to reach a democratic political transition that will achieve security and justice in Syria.
