Syrian regime used incendiary weapons in Idlib

The political and humanitarian situation in Syria is becoming more and more tragic, considering also that the World Food Program has concluded primary aid in the country.

According to The New Arab plus agencies, Syrian regime injured four civilians with incendiary weapons on in the city of Idlib on 7 January, the Syrian Civil Defense said.

Incendiary weapons are illegal according to the International Humanitarian Law.

This attack targeted a school used as a shelter for displaced Syrians and homes in the area. The attack burned one of the civilians and injured several others, reported the New Arab plus agencies.

Idlib was attacked the day before, regime forces targeted a camp housing internally displaced people with incendiary weapons. According to the civil defense, the regime used the Russian 9M2SS Grad rocket. The rocket is filled with small hexagonal containers of a thermite-like mixture designed to create large fires, reported The New Arab plus agencies.

The spokesperson of the Syrian Civil Defense said that the regime used incendiary weapons in northwest Syria nine times in 2023 and killed numerous children.

On October, Human Rights Watch reported the regime’s use of cluster munitions and incendiary weapons. Cluster munitions are bombs filled with dozens or sometimes hundreds of smaller bombs that often remain in the environment and  explode when touched.

According to The New Arab plus agencies, one hundred twelve countries ban the use of cluster munitions for their long-term detrimental effects on civilians.

The Syrian regime regularly conducts bombing campaigns against the city of Idlib, since it’s the only city still controlled by anti-regime forces. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an al-Qaeda affiliate force, controls northwest Syria.

READ: 7 killed in shelling attack in northwest Syria

On October, regime reinforced its bombing campaign of last year after a drone attack on a military academy in Homs, that provoked at least 116 victims.

The regime said that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is responsible for the attack and that its bombing campaign displaced 120,000 in northwest Syria, reported the United Nations Officer for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

According to The New Arab plus agencies, over 1,000 civilians were killed in 2023 mostly by the Syrian regime and allies.

The UN has called all sides for a ceasefire in Syria.