Syrian Envoy to UN: US Trying to Divert Attention Away from Deir Ezzur Incident

Rasa - Syria's Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar al-Jafari criticized Washington for bombing the Syrian Army units in Deir Ezzur which resulted in the death of 90 soldiers.

News ID: 423872

Date: 24 September 2016 - 23:54

RNA - The Syrian envoy to the UN said Washington is trying to divert attention away from the US bombing of the Syrian troops in Deir Ezzur, and its own failure in upholding the terms of the new ceasefire deal.

“This is nonsense … American diplomats, as well as military, are trying to justify their wrongdoings in Deir Ezzur,” the Syrian envoy to the UN said, adding that “they [the US] are trying to create a parallel between their own big mistake when they bombed Syrian military positions, by pretending that the Russians did the same bombing the humanitarian convoy. Which is not true, by the way, because there are no holes on the ground; the convoy was not bombed”.

According to Jafari, Syria is conducting its own investigation of the convoy attack and will provide its findings to the UN.

The US lacks the political will to respect the terms of its own agreement, which includes targeting terrorist groups in Syria, Jafari said in an exclusive comment to RT’s Caleb Maupin when asked about the failing ceasefire.

Jafari harshly criticized what he said was a US inability to broker an agreement on Syria which could last. He said US officials have been “pretending that they cannot separate the terrorists of Al-Nusra Front [Fatah Al-Sham Front] from the other so-called moderate opposition,” calling it a lack of “political will.”

The “American administration is not a genuine broker and they do not have the will to respect the terms of reference of their own agreement with the Russians. Washington was not even able to respect the terms of reference for seven days,” Jafari said, adding that “this is ridiculous. If you cannot separate these terrorists from those terrorists, then don’t pretend that you want to make a secession of hostilities decision.”

Jafari stressed that the Syrians are ready to defend the country against all the militant groups that he says are backed by foreign powers.

“They are coming to kill our own people with Saudi money, Turkish training, American backing, Qatari money, etc. So enough is enough, the mask has fallen and we are fed up,” he said, adding that “we are not doing anything wrong, we are defending our country by all the means, legal means.”

Last Saturday, the US-led coalition bombed the Syrian army positions in Deir Ezzur, killing some 90 soldiers and injuring dozens more.

The bombing took place on al-Thardah Mountain in the region of Deir Ezzur and caused casualties and destruction on the ground.

"Eighty Syrian soldiers were killed and over 100 injured in the airstrike by the US-led coalition," Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, said, citing information received from the Syrian General Command. But several media activists later reported that the casualties rose to 90.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the aircraft which carried out the bombings had entered Syrian airspace from the territory of Iraq. "Four strikes against Syrian positions were performed by two F-16 jet fighters and two A-10 support aircraft," it added.

"Even if the bombardment of the Syrian government troops was a mistake, it’s still a consequence of Washington’s unwillingness to coordinate its anti-terror efforts with Moscow," the ministry said.

The Defense Ministry also confirmed a report by the Syrian state news agency that an ISIL offensive began right after Syrian Army positions were hit from the air.

The actions of the coalition “clearly paved the way for ISIL terrorists to attack the position and take control of it,” the agency said citing the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces.

The General Command called the bombing a “serious and blatant aggression” against Syrian forces, and said it was "conclusive evidence" that the US and its allies support ISIL terrorist group.

A day later on Sunday, a military source disclosed that the ISIL launched attacks on the Syrian army positions in Deir Ezzur only 7 minutes after the US-led coalition's airstrikes.

The military source reiterated that the air and ground assault were highly coordinated.

The source said after the coalition's pounding of the Syrian army near Deir Ezzur airbase, the ISIL could take full control of al-Thardah mountain and then Deir Ezzur military base, adding that the army and national defense forces deployed near the airbase immediately won it back from the terrorists by launching a counterattack.

Noting that Deir Ezzur is now almost in tranquility and no change has occurred in the military map of the region, the source said by attacking the Syrian army positions, the US seeks to prevent military operations to break the terrorists' siege on the city.

The source said the simultaneous raid of the ISIL terrorists immediately after the coalition airstrikes is the best evidence of the high coordination done between the US and the terrorists.

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