Four children, named as Yamen Juma Yasin, Hamza Mansour Aswad, Malek Anas Dawdi, and Nasr Haj Ahmad, all from Ma’aret al Na’san village northeast of Idlib governorate, were killed while on their way to school by Syrian regime forces’ target missile fired on al Shamali neighborhood in the village on April 4, 2022.
Through this action, Syrian regime 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 political transition process, 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 refugees and IDPs to return homes.