At least 50 civilians, including women and children, have been killed and dozens more wounded in attacks by Russian forces in Syria over the past three days. The majority of the victims fell in Russian airstrikes on a public market on the town of Ariha in rural Idlib on Wednesday and strikes on an IDP camp along the Jordanian border on Tuesday as well as attacks in Aleppo.
President of the Syrian Coalition Anas Alabdah said that the Russian bombing campaign is aimed at assisting regime forces, adding that the Iranians oversee the regime’s military operations in Aleppo.
Iran, Russia and the Assad regime are seeking to create “a new military equation” in Syria in order to impose a political solution favorable to the regime, Alabdah noted.
Alabdah added: “I do not see a real political will on the part of the international community to reach a political solution in Syria. The absence of such a political threatens to undermine the Geneva negotiations.”
Alabdah pointed out that “unless there is real political will to find a political solution in Syria, the talks in Geneva will largely remain a mere public relations campaign.”
The commitment to the peace process in Syria requires providing all prerequisites for success, most importantly stopping the killing and bombing, fully lifting the sieges and releasing detainees, Alabdah stressed.
President of the Syrian Coalition warned that a looming humanitarian catastrophe threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians living in the liberated parts of Aleppo after the Assad regime has recently cut off the only remaining route in and out of the eastern neighborhoods of the city. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)
