According to activists, nearly 8,300 civilians have been killed in Russian air strikes during the Syrian civil war four years ago. Among the fatalities are about 2,000 children, reported the UK-based opposition-oriented Syrian Observatory for Human Rights today.
In addition, around 5,500 members of the rebel groups and more than 5,200 supporters of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia were killed. Civilians thus accounted for more than 40 percent of the fatalities, it said. Information from the Observatory, which relies on a network of informants in Syria, is difficult to verify independently.
Attacks also on hospitals
Russia is an important ally of the Syrian government in the conflict.Russian jets started attacking rebel areas on 30 September 2015. With Russian help, the government has succeeded in recovering important areas. After more than eight years of civil war, the supporters of ruler Bashar al-Assad dominate about two-thirds of the country’s territory.
In the Russian and Syrian air raids, hospitals and other vital infrastructure are hit again and again. Critics accuse the allies of deliberately foreseeing this. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ordered in August to investigate the destruction in the last major rebel area Idlib.
