Equipo Nizkor - UNSC S/2016/374 - Letter from Syria regarding the terrorist attacks carried out in Damascus and Aleppo on 23Apr16.

United Nations
Security Council

S/2016/374

Distr.: General
27 April 2016
English
Original: Arabic

Identical letters dated 24 April 2016 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

On instructions from my Government, I should like to convey to you information regarding the terrorist attacks that were carried out against peaceful residential neighbourhoods in Damascus, Rif Dimashq and Aleppo governorates.

The cities of Damascus and Aleppo were once again attacked by terrorists on Saturday, 23 April 2016. Armed terrorist groups indiscriminately fired 69 rockets, mortar shells and gas cylinders at the Barazah, Adawi, Abbasiyin, Qassa', Tijrah, Tadamun, Arnus, Maliki, Harasta, suburban Harasta, the Wafidin camp and Adra areas and neighbourhoods in Damascus and Rif Dimashq governorates, as well as the Mogambo, Mashariqah, Ashrafiyah, Khalidiyah, Jam'iyat al-Zahra', Masakin al-Sabil and Hamdaniyah neighbourhoods in Aleppo city. The attacks killed 11 civilians and injured 59 others, the majority of whom were children, women and elderly persons, and caused great destruction to homes, schools, hospitals and infrastructure in those peaceful residential neighbourhoods.

These attacks are a continuation of the terrorist attacks that have been directed against many Syrian cities and were committed in order to carry out the orders of the Saudi Arabian and Turkish regimes to undermine the Geneva talks and the cessation of hostilities agreement, a process that began with the withdrawal of the "Riyadh delegation" from the Geneva talks and the call that delegations made to the terrorist groups it represents to bombard Syrian civilians and cities. Those terrorist attacks are also a continuation of the daily violations of the cessation of hostilities agreement committed by groups that designate themselves "the opposition". Those groups, which include, inter alia, the Army of Islam, Ahrar al-Sham and the Free Army, have taken advantage of the adherence of the Syrian Arab Army to that agreement and its decision to exercise the utmost self-restraint and not respond to those violations. In addition, those violations demonstrate that those groups are linked to the terrorist organizations Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and the Nusrah Front, despite the efforts of certain States and regimes to present those groups as being the "moderate armed opposition", instead of terrorists.

The Syrian Government stresses that such terrorist attacks will not deter it from fighting terrorism and working towards a political solution to the crisis through an intra-Syrian dialogue and under Syrian leadership, leading to the elimination of terrorism and the restoration of security and stability for the Syrian people.

The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic calls on the Security Council and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to condemn these terrorist crimes immediately and forcefully. It also calls on the Security Council to fulfil its responsibility to maintain international peace and security by taking preventive and punitive measures in respect of those regimes and States that support and fund terrorism, in implementation of Security Council resolutions 2170 (2014), 2178 (2014), 2199 (2015) and 2253 (2015).

I should be grateful if you would have the present letter issued as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed) Mounzer Mounzer
Chargé d'affaires a.i.

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27Apr16

Letter from Syria regarding the terrorist attacks carried out in Damascus and Aleppo on 23Apr16