Small Wars Journal

The U.N. Helps Syria Bomb the Opposition

Tue, 08/20/2019 - 2:30am

The U.N. Helps Syria Bomb the Opposition by Anchal Vohra – Foreign Policy

For months, as part of its deconfliction program for the Syrian war, the United Nations has been sharing the GPS coordinates of health care facilities in rebel-held territory with the Russian government. The aim was to ensure Russia and its Syrian allies do not hit them by mistake.

The system is not working. Indeed, it seems to be achieving the opposite of its ostensible goal. During the Syrian government’s recent offensive in Idlib, as many as 46 civilian facilities were reportedly attacked. The Syrian American Medical Society, a local partner of the U.N. in Idlib, reported that at least 14 medical facilities that were attacked in Idlib were on the U.N.’s list. The Russian and the Syrian governments, in other words, knew exactly where the facilities were when they bombed them…

Read on.