This is the morning on which four children and eight adults lost their lives in an artillery attack.
A ceasefire went into effect in March of 2020 in Idlib governorate,
at times broken by both sides.
This deadly shelling by the Syrian-Russian alliance
is one of the most egregious unlawful attacks
since the ceasefire began.
The residents of Idlib have had 18 months of relative quiet despite the war
which has killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians and displaced millions more.
People like 10-year-old twins Omar and Ali,
whose family fled to Ariha
from fighting in the town of Maarat al-Nu`man, 20 kilometers to the south.
Human Rights Watch has interviewed witnesses, rescue workers, and victims of the attack.
We analyzed dozens of videos and photographs taken during and after the shelling.
This strike shows the true cost of a resumption of unlawful strikes.
All parties involved in this conflict should redouble their efforts
to insure that unlawful strikes do not resume
and that civilian lives are not yet again put at risk.
The Syrian-Russian military alliance should cease these unlawful strikes.
The impacted areas included a vegetable market,
two buildings,
and a store next to a school,
where CCTV video captured children sheltering after the attack began.
In the footage, the brothers Omar and Ali, on their way to school, are in the store.
A man and his young daughter can also be seen.
As the twins walk towards the entrance, the father and daughter follow
and the man steps slightly in front of his daughter just at the moment of impact.
As the dust clears, the father and daughter can be seen escaping the scene.
The father, Hasoon Hussien Khadija, died of his injuries minutes later.
As for the twins, Omar was killed instantly
and Ali was gravely injured, losing his right leg as a result of the blast.
The deaths of those in Ariha
demonstrate the devastating impact of indiscriminately attacking in areas with civilians,
a violation of the laws of war.
The artillery attacks landed in the center of Ariha, a town housing thousands of civilians.
Witnesses reported there were no military targets in the areas attacked.
Human Rights Watch reviewed photographs and videos of five out of the six impact sites
and found no evidence of any military targets in the vicinity.
In September 2020, Human Rights Watch documented 46 attacks across Idlib before the ceasefire.
We found that the Syrian-Russian alliance repeatedly attacked civilian infrastructure
that wasn’t serving a military purpose,
such as markets, hospitals and schools.
Their actions constitute war crimes
and could amount to crimes against humanity.