Military escalation against rebel-held areas by the Assad regime and its Russia and Iranian allies continues unabated, especially in the provinces of Dara’a, Damascus and its countryside, and Alwaer district in Homs despite the start of a new round of negotiations in Geneva.
Members of the Syrian opposition delegation to Geneva and members of the local council in Alwaer discussed the dire situation in the besieged district at a teleconference held on Saturday afternoon. The district has been subjected to intensified bombardment by regime forces and allied militias for the past few days.
During the teleconference, which was organized by the Syrian Coalition, the two sides agreed on continued consultation and coordination to convey the grievances of the besieged population in Alwaer to the international community.
Member of the Syrian Coalition Khaled Khoja said that the Assad regime has always escalated violence and its mass forced displacement operations during negotiations. He appointed out that such an escalation is taking place with the backing of Russia which claims to be a guarantor of the ceasefire agreement.
Khoja, who was speaking from Geneva on Saturday, said that the Assad regime is stalling for time and rendering talks in Geneva irrelevant.
“We cannot not talk about a real, genuine negotiating process, but about a management of a political process in which the regime uses its own terms to describe things. This is the result of the indecisiveness of the international resolutions themselves,” Khoja said.
Local activists said they documented the death of at least 43 people in brutal bombardment and military operations by the Assad regime and its allies on Friday. They added that they recorded no fewer than 50 breaches of the truce by the Assad regime forces and their allies on Friday. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
