The Syria Civil Defense rescue agency has published statistics showing that the Syrian regime and its Russian ally carried out 1232 attacks on schools, hospitals, and public facilities in northwest Syria during the year 2023.

The statistics released on Tuesday, December 26, revealed that 397 civilian homes, 16 camps for displaced persons, and 24 schools were targeted. Furthermore, more than 13 popular markets in northwest Syria were shelled, in addition to the targeting of 6 medical facilities and hospitals and four centers belonging to the Syria Civil Defense (the White Helmets).

According to the statistics, the attacks by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally targeted 12 mosques and six water stations.

The Civil Defense stated that the statistics include the attacks responded to by its teams between January 1 and December 17, 2023.

In the latest targeting carried out by the Syrian regime forces against northwest Syria on civilian homes on December 25, a family of five (a man, his wife, and three children) were killed, leaving a child as the sole survivor of the family in a farm near Armanaz, west of Idlib.

This year, 162 people were killed in northwest Syria, including 46 children and 23 women. Additionally, a volunteer from the Syria Civil Defense was killed, and 846 others, including 260 children and 118 women, were injured, according to a separate report issued by the rescue agency regarding the casualties as a result of the shelling by the Syrian regime and Russia during 2023.

Ongoing shelling

Since the military escalation by the Syrian regime forces and Russia in northern Syria last October, the area has witnessed the deaths of at least 70 people, including three relief workers, 14 women, and 27 children. Furthermore, 338 others, including 77 children, were injured until October 27, according to a report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The recent escalation has affected more than 2300 locations and led to the displacement of over 120,000 people, marking the largest escalation in northwest Syria since 2019, according to the office’s report.

Between November 1 and November 30, 2023, more than 8000 people were displaced in northwest Syria due to factors such as escalating aerial bombardment and loss of income, according to a report by the UNHCR and the Shelter Cluster.

As the current academic year was approaching, the Syria Civil Defense issued a statement on August 26, mentioning that the escalation by the regime forces and Russia, and their deliberate targeting of schools, threatens the education process in northwest Syria and endangers the lives of students with the nearing of the new academic year.

In northwest Syria, 4.5 million people reside, with one million living in camps, while 3.7 million people suffer from food insecurity. The number of those in need amounts to 4.1 million, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).