New York, 1 May – The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict is alarmed by yet another wave of extreme violence killing and injuring children across Syria.
“Reports indicate that two children were killed today in a mortar attack. In recent days, at least one child was killed during anti-Government protests, and the dead body of a girl was retrieved from the rubble of a collapsed house in Hama,” SRSG Coomaraswamy said.
Since a truce was agreed on 12 April between the Syrian Government and the opposition, and despite the deployment of United Nations ceasefire monitors, more than 34 children have allegedly been killed.
In addition, a series of suicide attacks which rocked Damascus and Idlib resulted in further child causalities. The bombings have exacerbated the security situation in Syria and exposed children to an even greater risk.
“I urge all parties in Syria to refrain from indiscriminate tactics resulting in the killing and wounding of children. It is the responsibility and humanitarian imperative of all parties to protect and prevent unnecessary suffering of girls and boys,” Radhika Coomaraswamy said.
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Timothy La Rose
Communications Officer,
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
+1 917 346 3404
larose@un.org
Muriel Gschwend
Associate Communications Officer
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
+1 917-367-3562
gschwend@un.org
Website: http://www.un.org/children/conflict
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/childreninwar
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