Opposition head pledges Syria 'transition without Assad'

ISTANBUL

Khaled Khoja, the head of Syrian National Coalition, on Monday pledged the transition period in Syria would be without the Bashar al-Assad regime.

"As long as Iranian and Russian invasions and the regime exist in Syria, a political solution is out of the question; I guarantee the transition will be without Assad," Khoja told a press conference in Istanbul.

Khoja said that the opposition groups have been continuing their fight against Russian and Iran 'invasions', and detailed figures about the losses of Russian airstrikes that began last month.

"Russian planes carried out 2,943 airstrikes; 2,977 people were killed in various provinces; three schools, 14 hospitals and a drug factory were targeted; in these attacks, just six percent of Daesh-controlled areas were targeted," Khoja said.

In his remarks, Khoja called on other opposition armed groups to return to the "national line", which he said was the start point of the revolution and included all Syrians.

The Syrian National Coalition is the largest wing of the Syrian opposition, which has been fighting against the regime after March 2011.