The Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday strongly condemned the regime’s recent onslaught in Aleppo and called for urgent action by the international community to stop the bloodshed in Aleppo.
The Assad regime said on Thursday it was starting a new wide offensive to recapture the rebel-held parts of Aleppo. The offensive includes a ground assault, artillery bombardment, and intensive airstrikes.
Since last Monday, at least 213 civilians have been killed in rebel-held areas of Aleppo province, including the besieged eastern part of the city.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit strongly condemned on Sunday all acts of killing that have targeted civilians in Aleppo over the past few days. He decried the barbaric aerial bombardment campaign and subsequent military operations by the Assad regime and Russian forces in eastern Aleppo.
Speaking to reporters in New York, Abul Gheit described the recent escalation in Aleppo as “brutal,” adding that the onslaught regrettably shows the wrong belief of some parties that a military solution to the conflict has better prospects than a political solution.
Abul Gheit pointed out that the reported use of banned weapons against the civilian population in Aleppo is a regrettable and extremely dangerous development and should be stopped immediately.
Abul Gheit called on the international community to bear its ethical and legal responsibilities through forcing all parties concerned to work on reaching a real ceasefire agreement.
OIC Secretary-General Iyad Madani, for his part, denounced the bombardment of civilian areas in Aleppo and attacks on aid convoys in the war-battered city. He called on the international community to intervene to halt the ongoing onslaught on Aleppo.
Madani stressed that the “continuous shelling of civilians in the besieged city and the destruction of humanitarian convoys are war crimes for which the Syrian regime must be held accountable.”
Madani said the “parties supporting the regime must bear the responsibility for the continuation of these violations;” an apparent dig at Russia and Iran which are actively supporting Bashar al-Assad.
Madani said the parties that pledged to stop the hostilities and enforce a humanitarian truce must “intervene immediately to stop the killing and massacres.” He also urged the United Nations “to act in accordance with its responsibility under the Charter to stop these dangerous violations of the international humanitarian law being committed in Aleppo.”
The Syrian Coalition on Sunday said that in addition to the Assad regime, the Russian and Iranian governments must be held accountable for their direct partnership in the war crimes being committed against the Syrian people.
Vice-president Muwaffaq Nyrabiya called on the US administration and the international community to assume their responsibilities and act urgently to stop these crimes, adding that the United States has a special responsibly, as the world’s sole superpower, to stop the killing, destruction, and displacement being practiced against the Syrian people. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)
