UN Security Council slams attacks on schools in Syria

The UN Security Council on Friday condemned "in the strongest terms" the recent attacks on schools in Syria.

Earlier on Friday, an attack hit a school in Syria's northern city of Aleppo which reportedly killed a number of children.

The attack came just two days after another attack on a school complex in Syria's rebel-held town of Haas in Idlib governorate, which killed at least 22 children and teachers.

In a press statement, the 15-nation council expressed outrage at all attacks against civilians and civilian objects throughout Syria, and meanwhile called on all parties to avoid harm to civilians.

The council members reiterated in a statement that "parties to the armed conflict may not make civilians the object of attack or use them as human shields."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said such attacks, if deliberate, may amount to war crimes. He also called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

In recent months, the Syrian army has laid siege to rebel-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo, urging the rebels to surrender themselves or leave eastern Aleppo to other rebel-held areas in Idlib.

The rebels did not comply with the military's repeated requests. Last week, a three-day truce, aiming to facilitate the evacuation of civilians and rebels who want to surrender in exchange for pardon, expired with few civilians and rebels leaving.

The Syrian government accused the rebels of preventing civilians, around 250,000, from leaving.

Observers believe that Aleppo is going to be the decisive battle ground among the fighting groups, and the winner will be the one dictating its conditions to resolve the crisis, as the province contains all the groups that are supported by regional and international powers, with civilians paying the price for this proxy war. Endi