12 000 people flee Syria, but Russia ‘sceptical’ regarding war crimes
As many as 12 000 have been forced to flee their homes in Syria in the last few days, but Russia says it's 'sceptical' about a UN report on war crimes.
The evacuation of jihadists from southern Damascus follows intense fighting with Syrian regime forces Picture: SANA/AFP/File/Handout
More than 12 000 people have fled regime bombardment on rebel-held areas in Syria’s southern province of Daraa in the past three days, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Thursday.
The UN humanitarian coordination office reported that 2 500 people had fled one of these areas in the eastern countryside of the province as of Wednesday.
This comes shortly after news that Russia’s foreign minister said he was “sceptical” about a UN report accusing the Syrian regime of committing crimes against humanity during the siege of Eastern Ghouta.
The report published Wednesday said forces loyal to the government had deliberately starved civilians during the siege between February and April, among other crimes.
“We are in principle very sceptical towards the methods of this sort of work, whether it comes to war crimes or the use of chemical weapons,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow with UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres.
When questioned by journalists, Lavrov confirmed he had not seen the report.
He said it was “based on data obtained through social networks, video that was filmed by witnesses”, rather than being put together on the ground.
The five-year siege, on the outskirts of the capital, ended in April when Damascus regained control of the rebel enclave.
As pro-government forces dramatically escalated their campaign to recapture the besieged enclave, they used tactics that were “largely unlawful in nature”, the UN-commissioned report said.
The tactics, it said, “aimed at punishing the inhabitants of eastern Ghouta and forcing the population, collectively, to surrender or starve”.
Russia has been involved in Syria’s civil war since September 2015. Its military support of the regime changed the course of the war, allowing government troops to retake more than half the country from rebels and the Islamic State group.
More than 350 000 people have been killed in Syria’s war since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
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