Assad BOMBS earthquake-hit rebel-held area of Syria

Assad BOMBS earthquake-hit rebel-held area as rescuers try to save Syrian civilians trapped beneath rubble

• Air strike reportedly hit town of Marea, 70 miles from earthquake epicentre
• British MP and Foreign Secretary condemned the ‘callous and heinous’ attack

The Syrian government bombed an opposition-held area of the country in the immediate aftermath of Monday’s catastrophic earthquake, the UK has said.

MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, condemned President Bashar al-Assad for launching a ‘truly callous and heinous attack’ on the town of Marea, found in Syria’s north-west that was struck by the earthquake.

Marea sits around 70 miles south of the Turkish town of Pazarcik, which is close to the epicentre of Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake. So far, more than 9,500 people have been confirmed dead across Turkey and Syria. The number is expected to rise.

Kearns said the town in Syria’s opposition-held enclave had come under attack as locals tackled the immediate aftermath of the deadly quake.

‘Yesterday he [Assad] bombed Marea, which was an area affected by the earthquake, in what was a truly callous and heinous attack and opportunism for him to try to attack and destroy the moderate opposition,’ Ms Kearns told British MPs on Tuesday.

The Syrian government bombed an opposition-held area of the country in the immediate aftermath of Monday’s catastrophic earthquake, the UK has said. Pictured: Smoke rises from an airstrike in rebel-held Idlin, Syria, in this 2019 file photo

Responding to the MP’s statement, UK Foreign Secretary slammed the Assad regime for the ‘completely unacceptable bombing’.

‘Sadly it speaks to a long-standing pattern of behaviour by the Assad regime, a regime that we condemn, have sanctioned and will continue to bring about sanctions — working with our international friends and partners — to try to prevent behaviour like this occurring again,’ he said.

Kearns was ‘absolutely right to highlight the completely unacceptable bombing of areas in the immediate aftermath of this natural disaster,’ he added.

The statements came after the While Helmets organisation had issued a plea to diplomats, calling on them to pressure Damascas to ensure that there is no bombing in the areas affected by the quake.

The Syrian Red Crescent, meanwhile, appealed to Western countries to lift sanctions and provide aid as Assad’s government remains a pariah in the West, complicating international cross-border relief efforts. 

‘I call on for the lifting of sanctions on Syria. This is the most important thing for us,’ The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Khaled Hboubati, told a news conference Damascus, highlighting the need for construction machinery for the rescue effort.

Sanctions by the United States, the EU and some Arab countries have been in place since 2011, after Assad’s government cracked down on protests against his rule.

Meanwhile, Assad’s 19-year-old daughter Zein al-Assad took to Instagram, told her followers to ‘be careful who you donate to,’ while sharing a link for donations to people in Syria’s rebel-held region.

MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, condemned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (pictured in 2021) for launching a ‘truly callous and heinous attack’ on the town of Marea, found in Syria’s north-west that was struck by the earthquake

MP Alicia Kearns (left) said the town in Syria’s opposition-held enclave had come under attack as locals tackled the immediate aftermath of the deadly quake. Responding to the MP’s statement, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (pictured right February 7) slammed the Assad regime for the ‘completely unacceptable bombing’

‘This is a group supporting terrorists in Idlib. The donations will not go to [the government controlled regions of] Aleppo, Latakia or Hama,’ she wrote, according to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, which saw her post on her private account.

Zein lives in London, where she is believed to have fled to with Syria’s first lady Asma al-Assad at the on-set of the near-12-year-long Syrian civil war.

Assad’s government has pressed for years for all humanitarian aid to be sent from within Syria, including to the opposition-held enclave. The U.N. has increased cross-conflict line deliveries but not enough for the millions in need. 

Residents in the quake-devastated town of Jandairis in northern Syria used their bare hands and pickaxes to search for survivors.

‘My whole family is under there – my sons, my daughter, my son-in-law… There’s no one else to get them out,’ said Ali Battal, his face streaked with blood and head swathed in a wool shawl against the bitter cold.

‘I hear their voices. I know they’re alive but there’s no one to rescue them,’ added the man in his 60s.

The Syrian health ministry reported damage across the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, where Russia is leasing a naval facility.

After a decade of civil war and Syrian-Russian aerial bombardment, the north-west region of the country already has destroyed hospitals, a collapsed economy, and electricity, fuel and water shortages.

Pictured: A map showing the location of Marea, a Syrian town bombed by the Assad regime on Monday, shortly after a massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the region

Syrian civilians and rescuers gather at a collapsed building on February 7, in Jandairis

A Syrian man carries the body of a child on February 7, 2023, in the town of Jandairis

Syrian President Bashar Assad (right) is seen with his 19-year-old daughter Zein al-Assad, who tried to persuade her followers not to donate towards rebel-held areas in Syria in a post on Instagram, saying the money would go to ‘terrorists’

Even before the tragedy, buildings in Aleppo – Syria’s pre-war commercial hub – often collapsed due to the dilapidated infrastructure and bomb damage.

There are fears that the toll will rise inexorably, with WHO officials estimating up to 20,000 may have been killed by the quake, which struck at night.

WHO warned that up to 23 million people could be affected by the massive earthquake and urged nations to rush help to the disaster zone.

Washington and the European Commission said on Monday that humanitarian programmes supported by them were responding to the destruction in Syria.

The UN’s cultural agency UNESCO also said it was ready to provide assistance after two sites listed on its World Heritage list in Syria and Turkey sustained damage.

In addition to the damage to Aleppo’s old city and the fortress in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, UNESCO said at least three other World Heritage sites could be affected.

Syria activated the EU civil protection mechanism, the European Commission’s head of crisis management Janez Lenarcic said on Wednesday.

‘Earlier today, this morning, we have received a request from the government of Syria for assistance through the civil protection mechanism,’ European Commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarcic told reporters.

Lenarcic said member states are encouraged to contribute with assistance as requested. 

Elsewhere in the country following the earthquake, prisoners mutinied at a jail holding mostly Islamic State group members in northwestern Syria, with at least 20 escaping, a source at the facility told AFP news agency.

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