The Syrian Negotiations Commission condemned the assault by the Assad regime and its allied militias on the province of Dara’a, calling on the UN Security Council and the international community to shoulder their responsibilities towards the regime’s plans.
In comments posted on Twitter on Friday, Head of the Commission Nasr al-Hariri said that “the Assad regime has renewed the bombardment and military campaign in large areas in southern Syria.” He noted that “the Assad regime is committing new crimes claiming the lives of many civilians and resulting in mass exodus of people from several villages and towns amid dubious international silence.”
“The Assad regime sees the continued silence of the international community as green light to commit more massacres in the province in which the Syrian revolution broke out in 2011.”
Hariri called on guarantors of the ‘de-escalation’ zones agreement in southern Syria, the United Nations, and the UN Security Council to shoulder their responsibilities and to put an immediate end to Assad’s military campaign.
Hariri’s remarks came after thousands of civilians fled towns and villages of Dara’a province as the Assad regime forces and the Iranian terrorist, backed by Russian aerial cover, have stepped bombardment of the rebel-held areas in the region. The Syrian civil defense said that the bombardment killed at least ten civilians in different areas of the province on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, on Wednesday said that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs expressed concern “about reports of an escalation of violence in Dara’a Governorate in southern Syria, which is endangering civilians and causing hundreds of families to become displaced.”
On Tuesday, the Assad regime closed most of the crossings to and from Dara’a province, preventing civilians and goods from moving in the area. It has also brought fresh military reinforcements to the region. The United Nations expressed deep concern about the escalating violence in the region, calling for the taking of all measures to protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians there.
Local activists said that nearly 300 families on Tuesday fled the town of Al-Harak towards the Jordanian border, while 200 families fled the town of Al-Harra to safer areas in the nearby Quneitra province. The shelling killed a number of civilians, including a woman in the town of Al-Harak. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
