The Syrian National Coalition’s political committee on Sunday held an emergency meeting to discuss the serious developments on the ground and the escalating war crimes against civilians in rural Idlib and Hama. The participants included President Anas al-Abda.
The participants also included members of the General Assembly, ministers of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), heads of the local councils, and activists in the areas of relief aid and human rights who spoke via a video link.
Firas al-Jundi, SIG’s Minister of Health who is based in the town of Maaret al-Nu’man, talked about the health and humanitarian situation in the ravaged town. He talked about heavy civilian casualties as a result of the indiscriminate shelling which is mainly targeting populated areas as well as medical and services centers and which resulted in mass exodus of civilians.
Al-Jundi pointed out that the National Hospital in Maaret al-Nu’man and other hospitals in the town can hardly cope with the rising casualties or treat the serious injuries due to the constant, deliberate shelling.
Ahmed Qassoum, Deputy Minister of Local Administration, spoke about the mass displacement and the tragic situation of civilians who are being forced to flee their homes. He also talked about the inability to shelter the recently displaced people or provide them with basic necessities. He called on international humanitarian organizations to declare an emergency situation and provide the IDPs with urgent relief aid.
With regards to the situation on the ground, Brigadier General Adnan Al-Ahmed gave a detailed overview of the confrontations in the most important areas and the goals of the Assad regime and its Russian ally. He stressed that the regime and its allies are seeking to increase the pressure on the revolution’s social base by forcing civilians to flee en masse. They are also seeking to capture strategic areas and towns in northwestern rural Hama as well as the Aleppo-Lattakia highway and Aleppo-Damascus highway and securing the Hmeimim Airbase. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
