Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
August 16, 2022
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) stresses that the Assad regime has been using internationally prohibited weapons against the Syrian people for the past ten years. This usage lays bare the criminal nature of the ruling gang and its reliance on violence and insistence on pursuing a military solution.
The Assad regime forces on Tuesday shelled the town of Bsanqul in rural Idlib with rockets carrying cluster bombs, according to the Syrian Civil Defense. Such attacks pose a serious, constant threat to civilians in that area as they leave behind unexploded ordnance. The use of these weapons also paralyzes life and forces the people to flee, which worsens the already dire humanitarian situation.
These attacks coincide with the approaching ninth anniversary of the Assad regime’s chemical attack on eastern Ghouta near Damascus. The timing demonstrates the Assad regime’s brutality against the Syrian people and its utter disregard to the UN resolutions.
The SOC stresses that the international inaction and absence of accountability for the regime’s continued war crimes is encouraging it to commit more crimes with impunity. The SOC calls on the international actors to take a serious action that paves the way for accountability for the symbols of the regime, chief among them is the head of the regime. We also call on the United Nations to assume its responsibilities with regard to the resolutions it adopted on Syrian, especially UN Security Council Resolution 2254 by opening all its paths to reach a comprehensive political transition that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people.
