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<p>The Assad regime is responsible for the vast majority of civilian deaths in Syria
through the disproportionate and indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, and according
to the UN Commission of Inquiry, the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure,
including medical facilities and schools. It has also sought to terrorise civilians
through chemical weapons attacks, starvation sieges, and the torture and killing of
tens of thousands of arbitrarily detained persons. We are particularly concerned about
the recent escalation of violence in Idlib province, where the regime has launched
a large-scale offensive displacing up to 200,000 civilians, and a number of airstrikes
on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, have been reported. We are also deeply
concerned about the plight of the 400,000 people in Eastern Ghouta, which has been
besieged by the regime since October 2013, and where civilians including children
are dying from starvation and lack of medical care. There have also been reports of
regime chlorine attacks in Eastern Ghouta in recent weeks. We have raised our concerns
in the UN Security Council and International Syria Support Group and have called on
Russia to use its influence to stop these atrocities.</p>
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