Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
September 26, 2021
The Russian occupation’s warplanes carried out a new brutal attack in the liberated areas when they targeted the headquarters of the Syrian Liberation Front (SLF) in rural Afrin north of Aleppo, killing and wounding dozens of SLF fighters.
It was a premeditated attack with the aim of imposing the option of violence and terrorism as the only option on the ground and on the international community. It also constituted a new violation of the existing ‘de-escalation zones’ and ceasefire agreements.
The attack also came as part of Russia’s continued violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which called for a political transition and a serious engagement in negotiations to establish a Transitional Governing Body (TGB) with full powers. The Assad regime, backed by the Russians and Iranians, has insisted on undermining the resolution time and again. Russia is sparing no effort to undermine UN Security Council Resolution 2254 by torpedoing all chances of launching a serious political process, using all its capabilities to destroy all confidence-building measures and insisting on violating all cease-fire agreements.
Today’s atrocious crime is a malicious attempt to exact pressure cards at the expense of the blood of the Syrian people and employ them at the regional level.
The terrorist hotbed that causes devastation and destruction in Syria is represented by the Russian occupation, which provided protection to the murderous Assad regime and supported it militarily and politically with the aim of enabling it to re-occupy Syria and displace its people as well as turning the country into a military base and a seaport for its battleships.
Russia’s crimes in Syria have long been exposed. Today’s bloody attack on the SLF headquarters is not the first of its kind, but a reminder of what Russia has been committing in our country for ten years, especially since 2015. Since then, Russia has committed at least 350 massacres and targeted more than 220 schools and 210 medical centers, including the targeting four hospitals in just 12 hours.
Russia is still a symbol of criminality, failure and tyranny. The world must not let it take revenge on the Syrian people. The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) reaffirms the responsibility of the international community with regards to Russia’s crimes. It calls for finding effective mechanisms to stop its disruptive and criminal role, stressing the need to work for more effective action to exert real pressure and impose a political transition in the country.
