Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has obtained satellite images proving the extent of the massive destruction inflicted on the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun, noting that the goal of the Russian-Syrian alliance is to implement the Grozny and Eastern Ghouta model and to destroy as many buildings as possible to punish Syrian society.
Based on these images, SNHR notes that the magnitude and extent of the destruction of Khan Sheikhoun city in the southern suburbs of Idlib are very similar to what was inflicted on the Eastern Ghouta region of Damascus between February and April 2018, and before that on the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo at the end of 2016, noting that the extensive destruction inflicted through intense aerial carpet-bombing is not a chaotic process, but a deliberate strategy aimed at destroying as many buildings and facilities as possible to punish the inhabitants of those areas and force them to pay the greatest possible price for demanding freedom, with the regime able to do this due to being protected by continuous total impunity for several years now.
According to the 17-page report, that aerial bombardment is responsible for 70 percent of the total destruction in Syria, with the air forces responsible owned and controlled solely by the Syrian regime and Russia, as well as by the International Coalition forces, although the destruction caused by the aerial bombardment by International Coalition forces is not even close to being comparable to the devastation inflicted by the aerial bombardment by Syrian Regime and Russian air forces.
Nearly 3.1 million homes have been partially or completely damaged to date, meaning millions of Syrians have lost their homes. For many Syrians, this means not just losing a house, but losing their inheritance and a centuries-old part of their family’s history, with a large proportion of these homes passed down through generations.
Since the beginning of the recent military campaign by Syrian-Russian alliance forces on April 26, 2019, these forces have deliberately bombed and destroyed as many houses as possible, especially targeting vital facilities located in the fourth de-escalation zone (consisting of Idlib governorate and parts of the governorates of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia), particularly in the southern part of the zone which is adjacent to areas held by the Regime forces.
The Russian-Syrian alliance forces have destroyed tens of thousands of residential buildings in recent months in the fourth de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, through indiscriminate, heavy, extensive, and constant bombardment, particularly through using barrel bombs. The report provides satellite images of Khan Sheikhoun city, which serves as a template showing the similar destruction inflicted on other towns and cities such as al Latamena, Kafr Zita, Kafr Nbouda, and others.
The report outlines the record of Russian-Syrian alliance forces’ use of the most notable types of weapons in the Idlib area since the beginning of the recent military campaign on April 26, 2019, up until September 15, 2019, with SNHR documenting at least 24 cluster munitions attacks, 12 of which were carried out by the Syrian regime, and three carried out by Russian forces, in addition to at least 21 incendiary weapons attacks, all by the Syrian regime.
As the report further reveals, Syrian Regime forces used nail missiles in at least seven attacks, while the Syrian regime’s helicopters and fixed-wing warplanes dropped at least 3,420 barrel bombs, in addition to using chemical weapons in one attack on al Kbaina village in the suburbs of Latakia.
On the extent of the targeting of civilian vital facilities, the report documents 450 attacks by Russian-Syrian alliance forces since April 26 up until September 15, 2019, including 109 attacks on places of worship, 125 on schools, 56 on medical facilities, 21 on markets, and 43 on Civil Defense centers. By far the most commonly targeted locations, however, have been houses and other residential buildings, with the report basing its findings on satellite images, photos and videos which SNHR was able to obtain showing that entire villages and towns have been completely razed, including Jebbin village in the suburbs of Hama governorate. Through an approximate inductive process that extrapolated the destruction witnessed in these images to the other neighborhoods for which it has so far been unable to obtain photos and videos, the report estimates that tens of thousands of residential buildings have been either damaged, or almost or completely destroyed.
The report details the historical context of events in Khan Sheikhoun city, which was selected as a case study example, and analyzes the extent of the destruction inflicted on the city since it broke free of Syrian regime control in May 2014.
Based on satellite images of Khan Sheikhoun city taken on August 2, 2019, the report identifies about 220 points where buildings were severely destroyed, noting that approximately 35 percent of the area of the city has been completely destroyed, and 40 percent of it partially destroyed. This means that about 75 percent of the city’s buildings are either partially or completely destroyed.
The report reveals that the bombardment by Russian-Syrian alliance forces targeting the fourth de-escalation zone since April 26 has resulted in the deaths of 1,012 civilians, including 272 children, and 171 women (adult female), as well as causing the displacement of approximately 630.000 civilians according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and leading to the accumulation of approximately 500.000 asylum seekers on the Turkish border.
The report emphasizes that at the humanitarian response level, the recent displacements are the worst to date, given the very large number of internally displaced persons, and the inability of local and international humanitarian organizations to respond to all of them, with the international response still failing to meet even 10 percent of these basic needs, and being completely inconsistent with the size of the human influx and the magnitude of the disaster that has befallen them.
The report stresses that the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance forces have unquestionably violated UN Security Council Resolutions No. 2139 and 2254 to stop indiscriminate attacks, as well as violating Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute by committing intentional homicide, all of which constitute crimes against humanity. The report also notes that the Russian-Syrian alliance forces have used indiscriminate and highly destructive indiscriminate weapons and prohibited weapons such as cluster munitions and chemical weapons.
The report adds that bombardments have inadvertently caused losses of civilian lives, injuries, and severe damage to civilian objects, and there are strong indications that lead SNHR to believe the damage is disproportionately extreme compared to any military objectives for the attacks, noting that such indiscriminate bombardment has caused a succession of violations, including the crime of enforced displacement, which constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Most of Idlib province and parts of neighbouring Aleppo and Latakia provinces are controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist group led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
Russia-backed regime forces have been pressing an offensive against the region despite a deal with rebel backer Turkey in September last year to protect the area.
Assad, who now controls around 60 percent of the country, has vowed to reclaim the rest, including Idlib.
Eight years of war in Syria have killed 560,000 people and driven half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes, including more than 6 million as refugees to neighbouring countries.
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