Syria Condemns Strongly US-Led Coalition Air Raids against Civilians in Raqqa, Deir Ezzur

Rasa - The Syrian Foreign Ministry lashed out at the US-led coalition for its repeated air raids on civilians, including in Raqqa and Deir Ezzur, calling on the UN to force the coalition to halt the air attacks that are blatant violation of the country's sovereignty.

News ID: 429704

Date: 17 May 2017 - 22:41

RNA - The ministry, in a statement, described the US-led coalition airstrikes on civilians in al-Ekirshi village in Raqqa province and the town of Albu Kamal in Deir Ezzur as blatant aggression against people and flagrant violation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“On May 15th, 2017, the illegal US-led coalition killed more than 26 people in al-Ekirshi village in Raqqa province,” the ministry said in two letters addressed to the Secretary General of the United Nations and Chairman of the UN Security Council, adding that the death toll is expected to rise due to the number of severely injured civilians and the huge destruction caused by the US-led coalition air attack to the residential units.

The Ministry referred to the US-led Coalition airstrikes against civilians in Albu Kamal which claimed the lives of more than 31 people, the majority of whom were children and women, indicating that many civilians were severely injured while others are still trapped under the debris as the attack caused the collapse of several residential buildings with inhabitants inside.

In its letters, the ministry noted that the international coalition forces admitted in a statement last week that hundreds of innocent civilians were killed by mistake during their operations in Syria, adding that the formal acknowledgement of committing massacres against thousands of innocent children and women leaves no room for doubt about the catastrophic consequences of the coalition on the Syrian people.

The coalition forces’ continued crimes against women picking cotton, not to mention the killing of children, elderly people and innocents set evidence that these acts were committed according to a certain course that cannot be morally justified or accepted, it added.

The ministry condemned in the strongest possible terms the coalition forces’ repeated attacks, that are denounced by the international law and the UN Charter, as they do not target the terrorists and the parties which support them rather they enabled those terrorists to commit more crimes against Syria.

The ministry made clear that Syria, based on its responsibility to protect its people and borders, reiterated that the real enemy to the Syrian people is the terrorist organizations such as the ISIL and al-Nusra Front which the US-led coalition as well as other states like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and Britain supply with weapons and funds in order to achieve their goal in destroying Syria, killing its people and prolonging war in the country that is serving their interests and policies.

It concluded that Syria, once again, demands the UNSC to halt the attacks by the illegal US-led coalition against the Syrian people which violate the UNSC resolutions and the UN Charter, adding that nowadays, more respect to the international humanitarian law is required.

In relevant developments in the province on Tuesday over 30 civilians were killed and several more were wounded in the US-Led coalition air raids near a key town in the Eastern province of Deir Ezzur at the border with Iraq.

The coalition fighter jets bombed border regions with Iraq near the key town of Albu Kamal, killing 30 civilians and wounding several more.

In the meantime, five civilians were killed in the coalition air assault on their houses in the Iraqi town of Anah in Western al-Anbar province.

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