Bombings by the Bashar Assad regime and its backer Russia in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province killed six children who were making their way home from school on Monday, according to a civil defense group.
Condemning "the horrific artillery attack in Idlib," Mark Cutts, the U.N. deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, said late Monday that one of the fathers was only able to recognize his son from his shoes.
The shelling targeted the village of Maaret al-Naasan in the last opposition bastion Idlib, which is home to more than 3 million people, many of them internally displaced by the country’s civil war that erupted after a brutal military crackdown against a popular uprising in 2011.
Similarly, the White Helmets civil defense group described the incident as "heartbreaking" and said its teams acted upon "the massacre that was caused by the regime and Russian bombing on Maret Nassan village east of Idlib where six children students were killed while they were walking home from their school."
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), however, reported the number of children that died as four.
Hajj Ahmed, the principal at al-Amal school, told The Associated Press (AP) that the attack happened at about 11:15 a.m.
AP reported that the boys were killed about 50 meters (165 feet) away from the school and their blood-splattered school bags were still on the ground some time after the shelling. Their bags had the markings of the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF. The bodies were later put in black bags and buried in the village’s cemetery.
"This is a stark reminder that the war on children continues," said UNICEF spokesperson Juliette Touma, speaking to AP. "Every child in Syria, wherever they are, has the right to go to school in safety."
Touma said the rebel-held region is home to 1 million children, many of them displaced several times during the conflict. She added that 70% of children killed in Syria last year were in and around Idlib province.
Touma said there have been 751 attacks on educational facilities and personnel since the conflict began.
Monday’s shelling came as Russian warplanes conducted strikes on other parts of Idlib, according to the White Helmets.
Russia joined Syria’s 10-year conflict in September 2015, when the regime military appeared close to collapse, and has since helped in tipping the balance of power in favor of Assad, whose forces now control much of the country. Hundreds of Russian troops are deployed across Syria and they also have a military air base along Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
Even after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian warplanes have continued to conduct airstrikes in Idlib.
The Idlib region bordering Turkey is home to about 3 million people and it is one of the last pockets to oppose Damascus.
For years, the Assad regime has ignored the needs and safety of the Syrian people, only eyeing further territory gains and crushing the opposition. With this aim, the regime has for years bombed civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and residential areas, causing the displacement of almost half of the country's population.
The Idlib de-escalation zone was forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia. The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire agreements, which have been frequently violated by the Assad regime and its allies.