Mustafa Çağlayan
February 23, 2016•Update: February 24, 2016
NEW YORK
The Syrian civil war has turned into a multifaceted proxy conflict shaped by a complicated network of alliances, UN investigators said Monday.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said in its latest report that war crimes were "rampant" in this conflict, and they were aggravated by "blatant impunity".
"Relevant Security Council resolutions remain largely unheeded and unimplemented. Crimes against humanity continue to be committed by government forces and by Islamic State in Iraq and Al-Sham [Daesh]", read the report.
"The conflict has devolved into a multisided proxy war steered from abroad by an intricate network of alliances", it said, adding that major powers "that are ostensibly pushing for a peaceful solution to the war are the same that continue to feed the military escalation".
Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
More than 250,000 victims have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures.
UN investigators said Syrian government forces and Daesh "deliberately" targeted hospitals in areas not under their control, adding that these attacks "resulted in little or no medical help being available for serious injuries".
The regime also continued to strike markets, bakeries and venues offering humanitarian assistance in opposition-held areas, read the report.
"Such attacks serve to terrify civilians, removing even the possibility of an assurance of safety. Attacks, which dominate news headlines when they take place in Europe, are tragically commonplace in the Syrian Arab Republic", it added.
The commission also reiterated its previous demand to the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
