On 1 February, the US State Department posted an article on the attack on civilians in Syria on its website, condemning the attacks in Azaz, al-Bab and Afrin. 20 civilians were killed, including children.
We sympathise and join in the heartfelt condolences!
But the fact that not only in the north, but also in the south and central part of Syria, terrorist attacks occur almost daily is either not seen or not noticed by the United States. But at any rate, they are not offering any condolences.
And they should. And not just to express condolences, but at least to look into the root causes of such killings and to propose to do something that would, if not stop, at least significantly reduce such tragic cases.
According to the news agency Dar’a 24, since the beginning of the year nine civilians, including three children, have been killed in one of the southern Syrian provinces of Dar’a alone. Particularly in early January 2021 a conflict between two clans in the Kivan and Zuobi provinces, during which in addition to conventional small arms and jeeps with large-calibre machine guns grenade launchers and mortars were used, resulted in 4 women and two children killed by accidental firing.
The number of terrorist acts against the armed forces and security services of Syria trying to restore order there is already beyond counting. This is due to the large number of weapons left in the hands of former fighters after the start of the reconciliation process in southern Syria in 2018.
The Russian Hostile Reconciliation Centre in Damascus daily calls on the militants to abandon armed provocations and take the path of a peaceful settlement. But this is not enough. First of all, it is necessary for all groups in the southern provinces of Syria, where there has been no war for 2 years, to surrender their weapons! Only then will the killing of civilians and children stop.
And these calls should be made not only by the Russian commanders, but also by the leaders of other countries that have an interest in the region and are so far only expressing their condolences for the deaths of civilians and children in northern Syria.