Equipo Nizkor - UNSC S/2016/790 - Letter from Syria regarding the attack launched by the US Air Force against positions of the Syrian Arab Army in Dayr al-Zawr.

United Nations
Security Council

S/2016/790

Distr.: General
19 September 2016
English
Original: Arabic

Identical letters dated 17 September 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

At 5 p.m. on 17 September 2016, the air force of the United States of America launched a brutal assault on the positions of the Syrian Arab Army in the Jabal Thardah area around Dayr al-Zawr airport. Five American aircraft attacked the location for one hour. The organization Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had for several years made repeated attempts to gain control of the area, but our courageous armed forces had always prevented it from doing so. The available information indicates that the United States of America launched the attack in a deliberate and premeditated manner, in an effort to pursue its strategy of perpetuating the terrorists' war against the Syrian Arab Army, which has stood firm against the terrorist organizations and all their backers. That theory is borne out by the fact that ISIL attacked and gained control of that location immediately after the American aggression. The American bombardment thus prepared the way for ISIL to occupy the area, showing that there was prior coordination between ISIL and American forces.

This barefaced act of aggression claimed dozens of lives among the ranks of the Syrian Arab Army. The latter has been defending the tens of thousands of civilians who remain besieged by the terrorist organization ISIL in the city of Dayr al-Zawr. It has protected them from the savage attacks carried out by ISIL and its State sponsors. This cowardly act on the part of America is a flagrant and fateful attack on the Syrian Arab Republic and its army. It shows unquestionably that the United States and its allies are supporting ISIL and other armed terrorist groups. Without a doubt, it disproves the claims of the United States of America that it is fighting terrorism and working to restore security and peace in the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Syrian Arab Republic calls on the Security Council to condemn this act of aggression and prevail on the United States of America to prevent its recurrence, respect the sovereignty of Syria and the integrity of its territory and people, and comply with international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the counter-terrorism resolutions of the Security Council.

Syria stresses that counter-terrorism efforts are acceptable only if they take place in coordination with the Government and army of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Any actions beyond the scope of international law can only be considered a blatant attack on the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic reiterates that it will not waver in its open war on terrorism. It will persist in seeking a political solution to the crisis in Syria through dialogue among Syrians, without foreign intervention, in order to uphold the rights of the Syrian Arab people and the regional and international role of Syria.

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

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

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19Sep16

Letter from Syria regarding the attack launched by the US Air Force against positions of the Syrian Arab Army in Dayr al-Zawr