An unidentified four-year-old boy was killed on January 20, 2024, in an attack by gunmen we have not yet been able to identify, but suspect are affiliated with Syrian regime forces, on tents housing civilian shepherds in the village of Rasm al-Yatna in al-Sa’n subdistrict in a rural area just outside Salmiya city in eastern rural Hama governorate. The attackers also burnt down six of the tents used as accommodation by the shepherds and their families, in addition to burning two cars and a tractor belonging to them, and killing about 200 of their sheep. The area is under the control of Syrian regime forces.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that the gunmen also seized a car and a number of sheep.
SNHR is still trying to locate eyewitnesses to obtain more information about the incident. We call on the controlling forces to uphold their responsibilities for protecting civilians in their areas, to investigate this incident, and to make the investigation’s findings known to the public. Syria will never have true stability without a genuine political transition process towards democracy within a fixed timetable.
