On December 14, 2022, a Syrian regime artillery, stationed in the area of al-Sheikh Aqil in western Aleppo, fired multiple shells at Faferteen village, administratively affiliated with Afrin city in the northern suburbs of Aleppo governorate, killing a 15-year-old girl named Jeelan Hussein Khalil Shuti. The shelling also partially destroyed several houses in the village.
Through this attack, the Syrian regime has once again categorically violated UN 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 the implementation of a political transition according to a strict timetable which must not exceed six months, thus enabling millions of refugees and IDPs to return home.
