“Southwestern Syria has experienced the most serious and deadly violence since 2018. Intensive shelling has killed dozens of civilians, including women and children, and 10,000 people have been displaced,” laments the EU in a statement by its spokesperson, warning of a “serious” risk of escalation throughout Daraa province and beyond.
“All parties must as a priority protect the inhabitants of Daraa and guarantee unhindered, safe and sustainable humanitarian access”, insists the European Union, which joins the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, in its call on all parties in Syria to adhere to the principle of protection of civilians and international humanitarian law and urges all parties to avoid escalation and restore calm.
According to the EU spokesperson, the fighting “once again shows the need to step up efforts to achieve a peaceful political solution” to the conflict in Syria.
Deraa talks fail
“Only a political process that respects the freedom and dignity of all the Syrian people in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2254 can provide a lasting solution to the conflict,” one concludes.
Remember that talks began last Friday in Syria in the province of Daraa (south) to try to obtain a ceasefire and put an end to the clashes of the day before between regime forces and local fighters who left 28 dead, including 11 civilians, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
These fights, which rocked several areas of Daraa on Thursday were the most violent since the reconquest of the province in 2018 by the regime of Bashar al-Assad and his Russian ally, according to the OSDH.
Cradle of the uprising against the regime in 2011, Deraa has been regularly shaken by terrorist attacks and attacks against regime forces since its reconquest. Under an unprecedented agreement in 2018, the rebels there were allowed to stay there.
Friday “sporadic shootings” broke a precarious calm, without however leading to an escalation of violence, reported OSDH.
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