DAMASCUS – Nearly 1 000 people have been killed in nearly 200 attacks targeting bakeries in Syria since March 2011, according to a report by an independent monitoring group.
On Friday, a report by the Syrian Network for Human Right (SN4HR) that around 801 Syrians have been killed in attacks specifically targeted towards at least 174 bakeries in Syria since March 2011.
A record level of attacks (28%) occurred on bakeries in 2019, with the northwestern Idlib and Aleppo governorates bearing the brunt of the incidents at around 46% and 26%, respectively.
Furthermore, the report noted that the attacks led to hours of long queues outside functioning bakeries. These bakeries are said to be exploited by the Syrian regime and Russia; both countries place the blame of the Syrian crisis on the West.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) first detailed assaults on bread lines and bakeries in a report in August 2014. At the time, the New York-based advocacy group said that the Assad regime had targeted 10 bakeries in Aleppo, which resulted in the killing and wounding of scores of civilians.
Julie Alli spoke to Maseeha Saloojee, a South African living in Syria, on News & Views. Listen to the full discussion here: