Officials at the Syrian Coalition said that the Assad regime and its Iranian ally are seeking to force civilians in many rebel-held areas to leave their homes through the bombing and destruction of vital civilian facilities; looting homes; and the forced recruitment of young people into the ranks of regime forces.
Mohammed Jojah, member of the Syrian Coalition’s political committee, said that the Assad regime’s bombing of Ayn Alfija water pumping station in the Wadi Barada valley in Rural Damascus is aimed at breaking the will of the civilians and rebels in the area to force them to agree to so-called reconciliation agreements whose terms are dictated by the regime.
Jojah stressed that such policies, especially the evacuation deals and so-called reconciliation agreements, are in fact war crimes as they are solely aimed at forcing the local population in many rebel-held areas out of their homes. He reiterated the Coalition’s rejection of these deals, urging the United Nations against sponsoring any agreement or a deal resulting in the mass forced displacement of the indigenous population. He noted that the Assad regime also seeks to regain legitimacy through these deals and agreements.
Member of the Syrian Coalition’s political committee Osama Taljou said that eastern Aleppo is being plundered by regime forces and their allied Iranian-backed foreign militias after the evacuation of the local population that followed a months-long brutal onslaught on the city.
The Assad regime and its Iranian ally are seeking to force people out of their homes in many areas across Syria, especially in Damascus and Aleppo, with the aim of bringing about a demographic change amid utter shameful silence by the international community, Taljou added. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Office)