On October 5, 2023, three civilians, including a child, were killed by Syrian regime forces who used a rocket launcher to fire multiple rockets, followed by another mortar shell attack, on Darat Ezza city in western rural Aleppo governorate. Another 13 civilians, including six children and two women, were wounded to varying degrees in the attack, which also destroyed many civilian houses. The area is under the control of armed opposition factions and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
It should be noted that those attacks were of a retaliatory nature, with the regime ordering intensified bombardment of these areas in response to a bombing that targeted the regime’s Military College in Homs city on October 5, 2023.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that through these attacks, Syrian regime forces have again unequivocally violated 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. It is estimated that 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 safely and stably return to their homes.
