SYRIA: TARGETING SCHOOLS BEING PROPERLY USED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES IN IDLIB IS A WAR CRIME

Following reports that 10 schools were hit by shelling in Idlib and Aleppo countryside, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East Director, said:

“Schools should be safe places for children to learn and play, even in a conflict zone. Targeting schools and kindergartens is a war crime.

“Nine years into the crisis, the Syrian government continues to show utter disregard for the laws of war and the lives of civilians. This is part of a well-established pattern of systematically attacking the civilian population and it constitutes crimes against humanity.

“We call on the Syrian and Russian forces to end the onslaught against civilians in Idlib and hold the perpetrators of these appalling crimes to account.”