July 01, 2018•Update: July 02, 2018
By Kubra Chohan
ANKARA
The opposition Syrian Negotiations Commission (SNC) on Sunday called on the international community to denounce the crimes against Syrians committed in the southwestern Daraa province.
A statement from the SNC spokesman Yahya Aridi published on Twitter said: “We call on the international community to condemn the brutal breaching of the de-escalation zone in South East [sic] and take all possible measures to halt this assault on our people.”
The statement said Russia and Iran were violating the agreement they made and that it was “no surprise” that they proved to be “totally untrustworthy”.
“The only solution is the political process agreed upon by the UN which the Security Council must protect,” it said.
“Stability cannot be imposed by force, it can be achieved only by negotiation,” the statement added.
In the last several days, Daraa has been the target of intense air and ground attacks by the Assad regime and its allies, who have advanced deep into Daraa’s eastern countryside, capturing the towns of Busra al-Harir and Nahtah.
Over 100 civilians have been killed and thousands displaced since the regime offensive began two weeks ago.
Following peace talks held last year in Kazakh capital Astana, Daraa was designated a “de-escalation zone” in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
