Russian War Plane Suspected of Striking Civilians in Syria

Air raids from Russia were suspected to have killed dozens of people in Northwestern Syria last Sunday, just two days after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution adopting a peace process to end the devastating civil war.

These attacks, as noted by the Washington Post, coincided with the report of the Human Rights Watch that accused Russia and the Syrian government of using cluster bombs, such as indiscriminate scattershot munitions, that have killed dozens of civilians of Syria in the past few weeks. HRW's deputy emergencies director, Ole Solvang said in a report, "civilians are paying the price of the Syrian-Russian offensive's use of cluster munitions, with their lives and limbs."

To date, there are as many as nine airstrikes that have struck the city of Idlib on Sunday, killing at least 43 civilians and insurgents. Although Moscow has been insistent about their air strikes targeting Islamic State militants, rebels and residents say that the indiscriminate bombing has caused hundreds of civilian casualties.

According to the head of the Observatory For Human Rights, Rami Abdurrahman, the warplanes attacking Syria hit a courthouse and an intelligence building that have been used by opposition groups in the area. He said, "The courthouse was full of civilians. The Russians have been hitting everything, killing civilians and striking whatever they want."

Reuters said that so far, the rescue workers have confirmed 43 dead, but that there are still at least 30 more bodies that have been retrieved and are yet to be identified. More so, over 150 have been wounded, some with serious injuries, who were sent to hospitals in Turkey.

Civil defense worker Yasser Hammo told the outlet, "There are a lot of corpses under the rubble," suggesting that many more bodies are expected to turn up, and that the death toll could be much higher than the initial 43.

The strikes against Syria are nothing new, however, as Russia, despite being an important ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been carrying out said strikes against opposition groups since late September.

These attacks could also complicate the democratic process for peace, to finally end the conflict with Syria, which has so far killed over 250,000 people and displaced millions, as extremist groups like the Islamic State become more and more powerful.

However, on Friday, the Security Council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing peace talks between the Syrian government, as well as the enemies of Assad. In this rare show of unity, the proposed peace process has now had backing from Assad's opponents as well as his allies, including Russia and Iran.