According to UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, more than 1,000 civilian have
died in northern Syria over the last four months, the majority of deaths were caused due
to air strikes and ground attacks by President Bashar al-Assad forces and their allies.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva on
Wednesday that 1,089 civilians were killed in the war-battered country between April 29
and August 29, including 304 children. Nearly all, 1,031 of the deaths, were reportedly
attributable to government forces and their allies in Idlib and Hama provinces and
another 58 were caused by non-state actors, she said.
The UN human rights chief was speaking after Save the Children mentioned in their
report that more than half of the children in Idlib province will likely be unable to attend
school this year as fighting between rebel groups and government forces destroyed
hundreds of learning facilities.
The aid group mentioned that 87 education facilities were destroyed and hundreds were
damaged during months of fighting. Hospitals and other civilian structures have also
been at the target of many air strikes and shelling. Moreover, half the population of three million in the region is already facing displacement from areas previously captured by
forces loyal to Assad.
According to reports, Idlib province, that borders Turkey, is the final rebel stronghold in
the country. In late April, Syrian forces with Russian allies began an offensive in the
region in an attempt to capture the strategic area, which lies on a key highway
connecting Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo.
Russia began its intervention in Syria long-running conflict almost four years ago in
support of President Assad, while Turkey backed rebel group in Idlib. The two countries,
however, also co-sponsored a de-escalation agreement for Idlib that came in place
since September last year, but has faltered in recent months.
UN estimates shows that two-thirds of those currently affected in the war-torn province
are women and children.The war that began as protests against widespread corruption and job crisis under President Assad’s regime later taking form of pro-democracy demonstrations in Arab
Spring of 2011, has already caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, and has left 1.5
million people with permanent disabilities, including 86,000 with lost limbs.Moreover, at least 6.2 million Syrians have been internally displaced, forcing another 5.7 million to fly to near-by countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
