The Syrian Coalition on Wednesday held a teleconference with the local council in Dara’a to discuss the latest developments of the brutal onslaught being waged by the Assad regime and the Iranian militias on the city and the surrounding towns and villages.
The council declared Dara’a city as well as the towns of Yadoudah, Naiema, Um Almayathin, Tareeq Alasad, and Dara’a camp for Palestinian refugees disaster areas as a result of the relentless, indiscriminate bombardment that has been ongoing since early June.
President of the Syrian Coalition Riad Seif asked members of the council to list the most urgent basic needs in the province so that the Coalition can work on meeting them as soon as possible. The ongoing onslaught on Dara’s has caused the humanitarian situation in the province to deteriorate sharply.
Seif stressed the importance of documenting the crimes being committed by the Assad regime and its allied foreign militias as well as documenting the types of weapons they are using in the bombing of civilians. Seif described this step as important to condemn the regime in front of the international community.
Ali Salkhadi, head of the local council in Dara’a, said that the onslaught on the province began over two months ago, pointing out that that Assad regime and its allies are using the most lethal internationally prohibited weapons in the bombing campaign on the province.
Salkhadi noted that the Assad regime and Russian airstrikes have destroyed most of the infrastructure and residential buildings in the FSA-held areas.
Regime forces and their allies are using napalm, heavy rockets, and barrel bombs in the bombing of the city, Salkhadi added, stressing that the FSA fighters are steadfast despite the lack of sufficient support.
The fierce onslaught on Dara’a has forced about 20,000 people to flee their homes and seek refuge among olive groves and on the Jordanian border. The sectarian Iranian militias are targeting people even in the open, Salkhadi said.
Salkhadi went on to say that humanitarian situation in the province continues to deteriorate, noting that the bombings destroyed a field hospital as well as the Jeeza and Naiema hospitals amid lack of medical supplies.
Secretary-General of the Syrian Coalition Nazir Hakim praised the legendary steadfastness of the FSA fighters in Dara’a against the brutal regime and its allied militias, reiterating the Coalition’s full support for the FSA fighters.
“Just as Dara’a is the cradle of the revolution, hopefully it will be the cradle of victory through the determination of its FSA fighters,” Hakim said.
Hakim said that the Coalition will convey the messages of the local council and the suffering of the people of Dara’a to the international community, the United Nations, the Arab League, human rights organizations, and the UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura. He pointed out that the Coalition will work on exposing the crimes of the regime and its allies as well as the blatant Russian intervention in Syria and its role in the killing of the Syrian people.
Member of the Coalition’s political committee Oqab Yahya expressed concern that what happened in Aleppo might be repeated in Dara’a. He called on the FSA groups to close ranks and take lessons from the setbacks experienced by other areas in Syria to prevent a repeat of the tragedy of Aleppo in Dara’a. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
