Assad jets’ deliberate bombing of al-Fijeh spring a war crime - UN

UN human rights experts say Assad regime’s warplanes deliberately bombed a spring outside Damascus in December, cutting off the water supply for 5.5 million people living in and around the city.

Assad regime blamed opposition fighters for damaging Ein al-Fijeh spring during the battle for the Wadi Barada valley. However, new report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said on Tuesday says evidence showed the damage was caused by air strikes.

The commission said there were no reports of people suffering water contamination on or before Dec. 23, when Assad fighter jets hit al-Fijeh spring with at least two air strikes.

"The attack amounts to the war crime of attacking objects indispensable for the survival of the civilian population, and further violated the principle of proportionality in attacks," the commission’s report said.

The report also says that Assad jets committed another war crime by bombing a complex of schools in the liberated areas in Idlib in October, another atrocity which Assad regime denied responsibility for.