Hezbollah mortar shells strike school in Syria’s Madaya

By Khaled Suleiman

DAMASCUS

Artillery fired by the Hezbollah militia struck a school in Syria’s besieged town of Madaya on Monday, injuring 15 schoolchildren, according to a member of a local coordination committee.

Located west of Syrian capital Damascus, Madaya has been besieged by the Syrian regime and its allies for the last eight months, bringing the town to the verge of humanitarian catastrophe.

"Regime forces and Hezbollah have been firing rockets and mortar shells at Madaya on a daily basis," Hossam Yetim, a member of a local pro-opposition coordination committee in Madaya, told Anadolu Agency. "Today, these rockets struck a school, injuring 15 children, five of them seriously."

Yetim went on to warn that the humanitarian situation in Madaya was deteriorating day by day.

"Local residents are struggling with starvation and cold weather," he said. "Now, they’re the target of Hezbollah artillery."