Report: Russia Killed More Civilians in Syria in January Than Either Assad Regime or ISIS
(CNSNews.com) – As Russia again dismisses accusations that its air force is bombing hospitals in Syria, a new report by an independent human rights group said Russia’s supposed anti-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria air campaign was responsible for more civilian deaths last month than either the Assad regime or ISIS.
Of 1,382 civilians killed during January, 679 were killed in Russian strikes, including 94 children and 73 women, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), which says it documents records, with victims’ names where possible, from a network of activists across the country.
Over the same period, regime forces killed 516 civilians, including 83 children and 69 women, and ISIS killed 98 civilians, including one child and 21 women, it said.
SNHR reported that “armed opposition groups” killed 42 civilians, including nine children and ten women, while “unidentified groups” killed another 41, including 12 children and 11 women. The al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al Nusra and Kurdish groups killed three civilians each.
The greatest loss of life attributed to Russia in January, 226 deaths, were recorded in Deir al-Zour province in central Syria, followed by 212 in Aleppo, the site of a major offensive by Russian-backed regime and Iranian forces.
SNHR charged that Assad regime and Russian forces had “violated the principles of the human rights international laws which protect the rights to life,” adding that evidence and eyewitness accounts indicated that more than 90 percent of attacks targeted civilians and civilian areas.
On Monday, at least four hospitals and two schools [1] were reported to have been hit in airstrikes in northern Syria, with a total of at least 46 people killed and dozens more wounded, according to the U.N. and the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which supports one of the destroyed hospitals.
The Kremlin on Tuesday denied claims that it targeted the hospitals – a war crime under international law, if deliberate – with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that “those who come up with such charges prove unable to somehow confirm their groundless accusations.”
Peskov said the Syrian government should be relied upon as the “root source” for any such allegations, and noted that Syria’s ambassador to Moscow earlier blamed the U.S.-led coalition. A coalition spokesman said the nearest airstrike carried out by coalition warplanes on Monday was 300 kilometers away from the closest of the four hospitals hit.
In a separate recent report, SNHR said that since Russia began its air campaign in Syria last September, it has recorded at least 15,027 civilian deaths resulting from the airstrikes.
By comparison, the monitoring group said airstrikes by the U.S.-led international coalition – which have been carried out for 12 months longer than the Russian campaign – have cost the lives of 267 civilians.
“The magnitude of the crimes and violations that were committed by the Russian forces greatly exceeds that of the international coalition,” SNHR said.
“Even though we believe that it is not enough, international coalition forces admit to making some mistakes regarding the shelling incidents. It also conducted some investigations,” it said.
In contrast, “Russian authorities categorically deny any killing or shelling incident and falsely accuse SNHR of fabricating this information or any shelling incidents perpetrated by its ally, the Syrian regime.”
The Russian military has repeatedly rejected allegations by Western governments, humanitarian agencies and parties on the ground that civilians are being killed in its operation – which Moscow claims is directed against ISIS and Jabhat al Nusra, but the U.S. contends is also targeting non-ISIS, non-Jabhat al Nusra rebel groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.
In a statement to reporters Tuesday, defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov repeated those denials, and accused Turkey – which earlier blamed Russia for the hospital attacks – of having launched an “aggressive information campaign” against Russia, in a bid to prevent losing control over northern and northwestern Syria.
“It is to be reminded one more time, that the Russian Armed Forces jointly with the partners have deployed a multi-level reconnaissance system which provides acquisition of true information 24 hours a day concerning the activities of terrorists on the territory of Syria and some of the country’s neighbors,” Konashenkov said.
“All the strikes on the terrorists’ objects are carried out only after multiple check of the received data and coordination of actions to exclude risks for civilians.”
The state news agency ITAR-Tass said Tuesday that since Russia last September 30 launched “pinpoint” strikes against terrorists in Syria, it has targeted “military hardware, communications centers, transport vehicles, munitions depots and other terrorist infrastructure facilities.”
Well over 250,000 people have been killed in the five-year civil war and at least 11 million have been displaced.
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