Deploring yesterday’s deadly attack on a primary school in the Syrian city of Darra, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reiterated its call on all parties to the conflict to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law and protect children and schools.

“The conflict in Syria has plummeted to such lows that children are now risking their lives just to attend school,” UNICEF’s Representative for the country, Hanaa Singer, said in a statement.

According to UNICEF, five children were killed and 15 other pupils were injured when their school yard was hit at the end of an outdoor sports session. The attack came just a few weeks after the start of the school year and amid escalating violence across the country.

“Death and injury of children in Syria has become a daily reality. The killing must stop,” Ms. Singer said. “On top of their daily misery, even the right to learn and play is taken away from children in Syria,” she added.

The UN estimates that five years on, the Syrian conflict has driven more than 4.8 million refugees to neighbouring countries, hundreds of thousands in Europe, and displaced 6.6 million people inside the Syria against a pre-war population of over 20 million. Well over 250,000 people are believed to have died and much of the country’s infrastructure has now been ruined.