Russia blasts ‘fake’ UN data on civilian sites in Syria’s Idlib

GENEVA: Russia on Friday accused the UN of providing “false data” on the coordinates of civilian sites in Syria’s Idlib, as outrage rises over the apparent bombardment of schools and hospitals in the area.

The Jihadist-run bastion of Idlib, the last major opposition stronghold in Syria, has faced more than three months of air strikes by the Damascus government and its allies, including Russia. UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has said that the repeated targeting of civilian facilities indicates such sites are being intentionally hit.

The UN’s Syria humanitarian chief, Panos Moumtzis, told reporters this week that over the last 100 days his office had confirmed air strikes on “39 health facilities, 50 schools, water points, markets, bakeries and multiple civilian neighbourhoods.”

But Russia’s envoy to the UN in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, also an ex-deputy foreign minister, said the UN’s civilian site tracking in Idlib was based on “false data”. He said that Moscow ensures its military personnel check each alleged strike on civilian targets but find that the details provided by “the UN humanitarian agencies are false”.