80 civilians killed in shelling in Syria: UN

By Canberk Yuksel

NEW YORK (AA) - At least 80 civilians were killed and many more injured when armed groups shelled those trying to flee violence in Hama, Syria, the UN said Wednesday.

"The UN is deeply alarmed by reports of increased fighting and airstrikes in northwestern central Syria, resulting in death and injury to scores of civilians and damage to critical civilian infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and IDP [for internally displaced persons] collective centers," Stephane Dujarric told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

He said airstrikes Wednesday in rural Idlib completely destroyed a school, while Tuesday, "shelling on people trying to flee Wadi al-Azeib in rural Hama, resulted in the killing of 80 people".

Dujarric avoided identifying what states or groups were responsible for the attacks.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, according to the UN.