Syria demands stop to massacres of US-led Coalition and ISIS against civilians

Syria condemns in the strongest terms targeting innocent civilians and infrastructure by the so-called international coalition and armed terrorist groups, said the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry on Friday.

In two letters addressed to head of the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary-General, the ministry called for stopping attacks and atrocities committed against civilians, calling for bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Commenting on Jabhat al-Nusra’s announcement of changing its name to Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham, the ministry described it as a desperate attempt to erase its notorious track record of crimes and bloodletting.

The continuous support of France, US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the so-called “moderate opposition” organizations is an overt support for terrorism roiling Syria and the world, added the ministry.

The ministry cited two recent massacres, the first committed yesterday by the US-led Coalition in al-Ghandoura village near Manbej city north of Aleppo. 45 civilians were brutally killed by the Coalition’s air raids in the village and 50 others were injured.

On the heels of this appalling crime, ISIS brutally murdered 24 civilians from the locals of al-Bweir village near Manbej, the letters said.

The ministry cited striking similarities between the massacres committed by the US-led Coalition and the terrorist organizations in an attempt to exacerbate the situation across Syria following the Syrian army’s recent wins in Aleppo city.

The letters went on to say that any counterterrorism efforts in Syria are doomed unless done in cooperation with the Syrian government in accordance with international law and the UN Charter.

Concluding the letters, the ministry vowed continued efforts to fight terrorism in parallel with political endeavors to reach a solution for the crisis through an intra-Syrian dialogue without foreign interference, urging the UN Security Council to enforce its anti-terrorism resolutions against the countries backing terrorism.