Global Courant
At least two civilians were killed and two others injured in a rocket attack by Syrian regime forces on a displaced persons camp on the outskirts of the town of Sarmin in rebel-held Idlib province, according to a Syrian volunteer rescue group.
The Syria Civil Defense group, also known as the White Helmets, said on Sunday that an elderly man and a woman were killed and two others were injured in the northwestern province on Saturday, including a child who was in serious condition.
The White Helmets said the camp, which houses about 25 displaced families from Idlib and rural Hama, was shelled by Syrian regime forces in the town of Saraqib east of Idlib.
“After our teams rescued the victims, provided medical assistance to the wounded and extinguished the fire that broke out in the camp, the Syrian regime forces resumed shelling in the camp’s surroundings,” said Munir Mustafa, deputy Director of Syria Civil Defense. .
Two civilians were killed (an elderly man and a woman), and two others were injured in a rocket attack by regime forces targeting a camp on the outskirts of the city. #Sarmin in the eastern countryside of #Idlib on the evening of Saturday, September 23. The attack also caused… pic.twitter.com/puoyHN01PO
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) September 24, 2023
Mustafa told Al Jazeera that this is the fourth attack on a camp in northwestern Syria and the second shelling on a camp on the outskirts of the town of Sarmin, which has been targeted by regime forces for months.
On September 2, shelling of residential areas in Sarmin resulted in the death of a baby and the injuries of four other civilians.
“Our teams have responded to 711 attacks by the regime, Russia and their affiliated militias since the beginning of this year until September 12,” Mustafa said, adding that 61 people have been killed, including 11 children and 5 women, and 261 others. injured.
“The escalation and terrorist attacks in northwestern Syria threaten the stability of civilians in an area that has become the last refuge for thousands of families displaced by the regime and Russia,” Mustafa added.
On September 23, a displaced persons camp was shelled by Syrian regime forces, killing two people (Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera).
Turkey and Russia reached a ceasefire deal in March 2020 after months of bloodshed following a military offensive by Russian-backed Syrian forces in Idlib, part of which was declared a de-escalation zone in 2017.
However, this agreement is repeatedly violated by Syrian regime forces.
Tarek al-Hamad, who was expelled from Hama’s eastern countryside six years ago, lost his grandfather and aunt in the rocket attack on the camp in Sarmin on Saturday.
The 20-year-old says the shelling hit the tent where his grandfather lived, about 50 meters away from his own tent.
“I rushed to help my family leave the area and then returned to the camp to check on my family and friends, but I saw my grandfather drowning in his blood as he lay in bed,” al-Hamad said.
“It was like the Day of Judgment, the sound of the explosions, the flames and dust filling the place, the screams of children and women.
“It is not enough that (Bashar) al-Assad’s regime drives us out of our city; now it wants to kill us even while we are in our tents,” he said.
Residents inspect the damage to a camp tent that was shelled by Syrian regime forces on September 23 (Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera)
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that 4.5 million people live in northwestern Syria, of which 1.9 million live in camps for displaced persons.
Millions of Syrians from neighboring provinces such as Hama and Aleppo fled to the region during the 12-year war between President al-Assad’s forces and his allies on the one hand and armed opposition groups opposed to his rule on the other.
“What happened yesterday is considered a crime in every sense of the word, which confirms that the primary and ultimate goal of the Assad regime is to kill the Syrian people wherever they are,” said Ali al-Ali , 64, father of ten children.
Al-Ali, who had to flee his village of Qasr Ibn Wardan in Hama’s eastern countryside in 2017, was displaced again by the shelling on Saturday.
The 64-year-old and his family were left with only the clothes on their backs and spent the night in open farmland.
“As of today, I am forced to embark on another journey of displacement in search of a safe place to live with my family,” he said.
All his neighbors are now heading towards the Turkish-Syrian border, he said.
“We are human beings and we have the right to live,” Al-Ali said. “How long will the international community remain silent about the crimes that the Assad regime and Russia have committed against us?”
Remnants of a meal are among the remains of a camp tent that was shelled by Syrian regime forces on September 23, 2023 (Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera)
