Alex Crawford says she was targeted with tank shells by the Syrian army
Syrian regime forces deliberately targeted and tried to kill a Sky News crew reporting in Idlib.
Alex Crawford, Sky News’ special correspondent, said her team was present in a supposed demilitarised buffer zone between rebels and the army but that they were fired upon.
Military drones were used to identify the reporters, clearly identifiable as journalists, before tanks shot at them.
One political activist with the team was minorly injured by shrapnel.
This is the moment Sky News' crew in Idlib was targeted and fired upon by Syrian regime forces.@AlexCrawfordSky says they were attacked with tank shells, as an activist they were travelling with was hit by shrapnel.
Here's her exclusive report: https://t.co/mh7YcQBMS7 pic.twitter.com/ThrIVgqPkR
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 23, 2019
Writing for Sky News, Crawford said: “Al Habit is slap bang in the middle of the so-called buffer zone meant to be a battle-free area.
“More and more civilians are being corralled into an increasingly small area of Idlib.
“More than three million are now inside Idlib Governorate, having fled other fighting areas such as Aleppo, swelling the population to more than double its usual size.
“We saw large-scale indiscriminate bombing and shelling by the regime helped by Russian airpower on vast residential areas.
“Deliberate attacks on civilian populations with the intention of killing, maiming or just forcing them to flee is viewed as an international war crime.
“The intentional targeting of journalists is also a breach of international standards.”
