33 Attacks on Educational Facilities Documented Since January 12, Including Seven by Russian Forces
Syrian-Russian alliance forces continue their military operations in northwest Syria, indifferent to their violations of the rules of war, which have become standard features of their operations, including the intense bombing of medical facilities and other vital facilities, and the annihilation of any form of civilian life.
On February 25, 2020, Syrian Regime forces simultaneously targeted four educational facilities (three schools and one kindergarten) in Idlib city, using artillery shells and missiles. We were able to verify that at least one of these missiles was loaded with cluster munitions, which hit al Baraem Model School located in al Thawra neighborhood, and caused material damage; the other missiles also caused significant damage to the Khaled al Sha’ar School, al Hurriya School, and al Manahel Kindergarten. At least 11 civilians were killed in these attacks, including one teacher and four children.
The number of attacks we have documented on educational facilities since the beginning of the recent attack on the northwest region of Syria on January 12, 2020, has reached at least 33, of which Syrian Regime forces carried out 26, while Russian forces carried out the other seven.
The Syrian regime has also transformed many schools into military barracks or detention centers in the areas it controls, and bombed hundreds of schools in areas that were outside its control, through air or ground attacks, which caused catastrophic consequences, the most prominent of which was the reluctance of thousands of students to attend school, with schools, in many Syrian children’s minds, becoming places of blood and destruction, reminding them of terror and fear, especially because of the death or disability of these children’s friends or other children in their families.