ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The third full day of the Syrian ceasefire ended with a “dramatic” escalation in violence, the “massacre” of 23 civilians in one set of airstrikes, and three more civilian deaths across the country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Unidentified warplanes targeted the city of al-Mayadin in eastern Syria. Twenty-three civilians were killed, including nine children and two women, the Observatory reported, noting that the number of casualties was expected to rise as there were about 20 injured, some of them critically.
Unidentified warplanes targeted the city of al-Mayadin in eastern Syria. Twenty-three civilians were killed, including nine children and two women, the Observatory reported, noting that the number of casualties was expected to rise as there were about 20 injured, some of them critically.
Al-Mayadin is under Islamic State (ISIS) control. ISIS and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front are not a part of the ceasefire.
The Observatory also reported a child died from injuries sustained by sniper fire in government-held Aleppo, another person was killed by a regime sniper in rebel-held Aleppo. A second child was killed by rocket fire in a rural area south of Damascus.
One airstrike hit a school displaced families were sheltering in, according to the Observatory.
On Thursday, the Observatory said it documented “violations in several Syrian areas.” The organization reported shelling and sniper fire in both rebel and government-held areas as well as airstrikes northwest of Aleppo and in the Hama countryside.
Speaking at the daily press briefing in Washington on Thursday, the Department of State’s Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner acknowledged ceasefire violations had occurred but noted, “levels of violence are still far below what we had been seeing prior to September 12” when the ceasefire came into force.
“Both the United States and Russia have to do all we can do to further pressure or influence the respective parties to this cessation of hostility to reduce these incidents. But we still believe that, by and large, the cessation of hostilities is holding, it’s not perfect. We expected a somewhat uneven start to this, but from what we’ve seen so far, and what I said yesterday is it’s worth continuing.”
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