A girl and a woman, identified respectively as Farida Salim Hamami and Thana Qaq, were killed on April 1, 2024, in a rocket attack by Syrian regime forces who used rocket launchers to fire multiple rockets at residential neighborhoods and vital facilities in the victims’ home city of Sarmin in eastern rural Idlib. The rockets hit the popular market in the city center, partially destroying facilities there. Other rockets hit the al-Shahid Abdou Salama School for Elementary Education in the city’s Sharqi neighborhood, partially destroying school building. The attack also injured 10 civilians, including five children and two women, with some seriously injured. The area is under the joint control of armed opposition factions and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that through this attack, Syrian regime forces have again unequivocally violated UN Security Council resolutions 2139 & 2254, both of which categorically prohibit indiscriminate attacks, as well as violating the rules of international humanitarian law on distinguishing between civilians and fighters. Such attacks aim solely to spread fear and panic among civilians, to drive them from their lands and homes, and to forcibly displace them. An estimated 6.5 million people are currently internally displaced in Syria.
The international community must put pressure on the Syrian regime and its allies to support a process of political transition. Pressure should be applied on all parties to compel them to launch such a transition within a period of no more than six months, so that millions of displaced people can be ensured a safe and stable return to their homes.
