Artillery fire from government-controlled territory and airstrikes Saturday killed at least eight civilians in Syria’s last rebel enclave, most of them children, and destroyed a civil defense center and a water station, rescue workers and a war monitor said.
The regional director of the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF called it the worst violence since a cease-fire was reached in March last year.
“This is just tragic,” said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF regional director. “An escalation of violence will only result in cutting short the lives of more children. We call for the protection of all children and strongly urge those fighting to refrain from further attacks.”
The shelling in Ibleen, a village in southern Idlib province, hit the home of Subhi al-Assi, killing him, his wife and three of his children in their sleep, according to the rescue service known as the White Helmets and Idlib’s Health Directorate. Al-Assi was an administrator in a local health center.
Shelling also struck the home of a volunteer for the White Helmets, also known as the Syria Civil Defense, killing his two children in the village of Balion. The volunteer, Omar al-Omar, and his wife were wounded, according to the White Helmets. In a nearby village, another child was killed and four others from the same family were wounded, according to the White Helmets.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the shelling and casualties.