Assad regime artillery supported by Russian occupation forces launched an attack targeting the village of Maaret al-Naasan in Syria’s Idlib countryside two days ago, claiming the lives of six children as they were returning home from their school which was only 50 meters from where they were killed.
“The father of one of them could only recognize his son by the shoe,” said on his Twitter account Mark Cutts, the U.N. deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria.
AP reported that the 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.”
