Syrian Coalition: Defeating Terrorism Starts With Toppling Assad

Hadi Al Bahra, president of the Syrian Coalition, said “the Assad regime is the source of terrorism in Syria,” during a speech he delivered during the UN General Assembly summit. “The Assad regime has been following the strategy of spreading the culture of terror and chaos in Syria and the region. We must not forget that Assad’s militias were the first to slaughter innocents civilians with knives when they committed the Hula and Bayda massacres, in which dozens of children as young as one year old were stabbed to death in front of the eyes of their parents. We have documented more than twenty massacres that were committed by pro-Assad militants who killed the victims with knives.” Furthermore, Bahra stresses that “terrorism cannot be defeated without eliminating its cause and source, namely the criminal Assad regime. Therefore we put forward a draft declaration of principles during the Geneva talks in which we made it clear that fighting terrorism in Syria requires the formation of a transitional governing body with full executive powers to take on the task of creating the suitable conditions to achieve security and stability in Syria and eradicate terrorism in the entire region including ISIS and the sectarian militias that Assad has imported from Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and other countries to aid him in the brutal war against the Syrian people.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)