UNICEF Statement on the Killings of Children in Deir-ez-Zor, eastern Syria
2016-06-26
AMMAN/ HONG KONG, 26 June 2016 - According to UNICEF’s local partners in Syria, 25 children were reportedly killed yesterday in air-strikes on al-Quriyah town, in the eastern countryside of Deir-ez-Zor.
Three attacks reportedly hit heavily crowded areas including a mosque during prayer time. Health workers were reported to have pulled bodies of children out from under the rubble.
Amid an intensification of violence, attacks on children in Syria are becoming commonplace with callous disregard for the lives of children.
Under international humanitarian law, the killing and maiming of children is a grave violation against children.
Nothing justifies attacks on children -no matter where they are- nor under whose control they live. UNICEF deplores these attacks and calls on all parties to the conflict to keep children out of harm’s way.