United Nations human rights investigators said Tuesday that all warring factions in Syria’s conflict committed war crimes during the recent Russian-backed Syrian government offensive on Idlib. The report found Syrians experienced “unfathomable suffering” during the campaign to retake Syria’s last rebel-held region, which lasted from late 2019 until a ceasefire in March. This is Paulo Pinheiro, chair of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
Paulo Pinheiro: “All sides likely committed war crimes. 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.”
International aid groups are warning of unprecedented levels of hunger in Syria after nearly a decade of war, with millions of people acutely vulnerable to COVID-19.