22 children

At least 22 children killed in air raid on Syria school

22 childrenMNA International Desk: At least 22 children and six teachers killed in air raid that hit a school in rebel-held Idlib province in northwest Syria, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said Wednesday.

“This is a tragedy. It is an outrage. And if deliberate, it is a war crime,” said UNICEF director Anthony Lake.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “warplanes—either Russia or Syrian—carried out six strikes” in the village of Hass, including on a school complex, killing at least 35 civilians including 11 schoolchildren.

Lake said the school compound was “repeatedly attacked,” adding that it may be the deadliest attack on a school since the war began more than five years ago.

Syrian government forces and their Russian ally have been accused by rights groups of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure.

The White Helmets civil defence group released pictures of four rescue workers clambering over a mound of rubble in search of survivors after what it said was a “double-tap” strike on the school.

The latest attacks took to 89 the number of civilians killed in air strikes on Idlib province in the past seven days, said the Observatory.

x

Check Also

COVID-19

China brings its first Covid-19 vaccine patent

MNA International Desk: National Intellectual Property Administration has granted the China’s first patent for a ...

Scroll Up