The Syrian Coalition condemned the suicide bombing that targeted Syriac Assyrians in the town of Qamishli on Sunday. The attack targeted a gathering of hundreds of Syriac Assyrians inside a hall in the neighborhood of Alwasati, a predominantly Assyrian area in central Qamishli. A number of civilians were killed and injured in the terrorist attack.
The Coalition said that this is the fourth attack against the Syriac Assyrians in the past few months, “which confirms the existence of a criminal scheme designed to terrorize this component of the Syrian society and force them to leave Syria.” The Coalition stressed that these attacks “refute claims by the Assad regime that it protects Syria’s minorities. The Assad regime has always used ethnic and religious minorities in Syria as a card to divert the international public opinion away from the real cause of the conflict and reduce it to ‘war on terrorism.’”
The Coalition held the Assad regime responsible, whether directly or indirectly, for all terrorist operations targeting civilians in Syria, especially in the areas under its control. The Assad regime’s policies have provided an environment that enabled the rise of terrorism in Syrian and allowed it to spread in the region and beyond, the Coalition added.
The Coalition emphasized that the targeting of Syriac Assyrians with the aim to uproot them from their homeland is an attack on Syria’s social diversity. It went on to say that such attacks should send a clear a message to the international community to assume its moral and legal responsibilities and work to support the Syrian people in their struggle against injustice and tyranny.
To confront terrorist challenges in an effective way, the international community needs to hold firm to the universal humanitarian principles based on justice and freedom as well as to support peoples around the world in their struggle against injustice and tyranny.
The international community also needs to take a firm stand against terrorist regimes given the direct role the Assad regime played in fueling and spreading terrorism, the Coalition added.
The Coalition reaffirmed solidarity with the people of Qamishli, especially the families of the innocent victims, calling on them to stay united and alerted to the Assad regime plots to sow discord and division among different components of the Syrian society. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
