Syria’s Foreign Ministry addressed two identical letters to the head of the Security Council and the UN Secretary-General on Monday regarding the recent massacres committed by terrorists in Palmyra.
In the letters, the ministry said that as part of the continuing terrorist crimes committed against Syria and its people, ISIS stormed Palmyra – one of the oldest historical cities in the world – wreaking havoc and committing heinous massacres against innocent civilians. The ministry claimed hordes of ISIS fighters slaughtered dozens of civilians, most of them women, children, and elderly people, preventing thousands from leaving the city, and abducting many families and youths.
The ministry asserted that such terrorist acts would not have occurred without state support ‘Takfiri’ terrorist organizations including ISIS, the Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda offshoots, the Free Syrian Army, and other criminal groups that embrace an exclusionist Wahhabi mentality.
The letters asserted that generous support is provided to those terrorist organizations by regional and international regimes – primarily Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and Israel – along with the collusion of some Western states that support these groups to undermine and weaken Syria.
The letters stressed that Palmyra is now teeming with extremist forces while leaders who boast of combating terrorism remain silent or assume timid positions in order to avoid criticism.
The ministry asserted that Syria continues to affirm its readiness to cooperate on bilateral, regional, and international levels to combat terrorism, announcing its support to any real international counterterrorism effort that preserves civilians’ lives and respects sovereignty and international accords.
The letters noted that the ‘War on Terror’ that the US-led coalition declared nearly a year ago has failed to achieve any of its announced goals. Instead, it has allowed ISIS and its allies to expand and spread not only in Syria and Iraq, but also in Egypt, Libya, some African states, and Saudi Arabia itself.
The ministry called on the Security Council to confirm its commitment to combating terrorism and extremist terrorist organizations by implementing its counterterrorism resolutions via full cooperation and coordination with the Syrian government.
