The Russian and Syrian militaries are carrying out a 'scorched earth' campaign in their attempts to defeat rebels in northern Syria, Mark Lowcock, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the UN Security Council on 30 July. "For more than 90 days now bombing and shelling by the government of Syria, backed by the Russian Federation, has produced carnage in the so-called de-escalation zone of Idlib," he said. "On 26 July the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights identified at least 450 civilians who have been killed since late April, including more than a hundred in the last two weeks alone.... Many hundreds more have been injured. Over 440,000 have been displaced."
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