Syria war: ‘Flagrant’ war crimes committed in Idlib offensive, UN says

Syrian and Russian airstrikes on schools, hospitals and markets in opposition-held Idlib amount to “flagrant” war crimes, UN investigators have said in a damning new report.

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria released its findings just hours before Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution to keep two key cross-border aid points from Turkey to opposition-held northwestern Syria open for another year. Rights groups called the veto “despicable and dangerous”, warning that it could see Syrians starve.

The new probe into Idlib, released on Tuesday, outlined the scale of the damage caused by the regime offensive on the province between November 2019 and last month.

Investigators denounced as a possible crime against humanity the “indiscriminate bombardment” of Idlib by regime forces – killing hundreds of people and forcing a million civilians to flee – ahead of a Turkey-brokered ceasefire in March this year.

They also accused the regime’s jihadi opponents such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that controls the majority of northwest Syria, of committing war crimes, including firing artillery into civilian areas "with no apparent legitimate military objective".

Fighters from HTS, a group formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, have tortured and executed detainees, it added.

"All sides likely committed war crimes," Paulo Pinheiro, chairman of the UN panel, told a news briefing.

"Children were shelled at school; parents were shelled at the market; patients were shelled at the hospital. Entire families were bombarded, even while fleeing these attacks,” he added.

The report examines 52 "emblematic attacks" in northwest Syria, including 47 attributed to the Russian-backed government of Bashar al-Assad.

Panel member Hanny Megally said there were two incidents where they believe Russian aeroplanes conducted the attacks, including a deadly airstrike in March on a poultry farm near Marat Misrin that sheltered displaced people, and three strikes that damaged a hospital in the rebel-held town of Ariha in January this year.

Both Syria and Russia have repeatedly denied that their forces have indiscriminately attacked civilians.

Idlib is home to Islamist militants, moderate opposition groups and millions of civilians forced to flee other parts of Syria as Assad, with Russian backing, recaptured vast swathes of territory from them in the nine-year-old conflict.

In the report, UN investigators urged major powers to open up a wider humanitarian aid corridor to reach the 1.5 million displaced people living in Idlib and not allowed to cross into Turkey.

But on Tuesday, Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution that intended to keep open the Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa border crossing points between Turkey and Syria for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Instead, Moscow circulated a draft Security Council resolution that would only authorise the delivery of aid through Bab al-Hawa from Turkey for just six months.

In January, under threat of a Russian veto, the Security Council de-authorised the al-Yarubiyah crossing to the northeast Kurdish-held areas of Syria and one other crossing – massively impacting the delivery of aid during the coronavirus pandemic. The council cut in half the year-long mandate that had been in place since cross-border deliveries began in 2014, as Russia had insisted.

The closure of yet more cross-border aid points would be devastating, warned UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock, insisting that the two crossings from Turkey to Syria’s northwest remain "a lifeline for millions of civilians whom the UN cannot reach by other means".

Sherine Tadros, head of Amnesty International’s UN office, said that it was “impossible to overstate the importance” of the crossings.

“For millions of Syrians, it is the difference between having food to eat and starving. For hospitals, it is about having enough supplies to save lives. That’s why Russia and China’s abuse of the veto power is despicable and dangerous,” she said.