adminClose to 20 000 have been killed since the conflict began, 1,5 million have been displaced internally — 200 000 in the last two days alone in the biggest city Aleppo — the latest battleground of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. Hospitals, makeshift clinics and shelters have been swamped by the injured and dead while food and clean water are in short supply.
The Syrian version of the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings sponsored, aided and abetted by the West — is turning out to be a disaster with the anticipated quick fall of the Syrian government not happening and the conflict becoming a long drawn out and costly affair. On the military front, both sides have suffered heavy casualties.
Last week, the Syrian government suffered a significant blow when four of its top security officials, including the head of the military, were assassinated but it appears to have significantly routed the rebels of the Free Syrian Army in the battle for Aleppo — a sprawling industrial city of 2,5 million people.
Reports yesterday indicated that Government troops were on the ascendancy in several districts of Aleppo and Homs. On Monday, reports said the army had won complete control over Salah al-Din, one of the areas of Aleppo where rebel fighters from the Free Syrian Army had become entrenched.
However, as the fighting rages, a grave humanitarian crisis is unfolding. United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said in a statement yesterday that an estimated 200 000 people had fled from Aleppo in two days and an unknown number were still trapped in the city. Amos said in New York on Sunday that she was “extremely concerned by the impact of shelling and use of tanks and other heavy weapons” on civilians in Aleppo, Damascus and other locations.
She said that many people in Aleppo had sought shelter in schools and other public buildings. “They urgently need food, mattresses and blankets, hygiene supplies and drinking water.” The Al Jazeera Arabic network reported that hospitals and makeshift clinics in rebel-held eastern neighbourhoods of Aleppo were filling up with casualties from a week of fighting in the city, a commercial hub drawn into the 16-month-long revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
“Some days we get around 30, 40 people, not including the bodies,” said a young medic in one clinic.
“A few days ago we got 30 injured and maybe 20 corpses, but half of those bodies were ripped to pieces. We can’t figure out who they are.”
In the capital, Damascus, many residents have fled fighting in the outskirts for relative safety in the heart of the capital. In the centre, shops open only between 9am and 3pm, food prices have soared and no one dares walk outside after dusk, even in the holy month of Ramadan when streets are normally packed late into the night with people breaking the fast.
The Syrian crisis is therefore taking its toll on the country’s population and the sooner the world moves in to resolve the conflict the better. As it is, the UN is hamstrung in its efforts to diffuse the situation due to the long standing differences between former superpowers — the United States, Britain and their European allies on the one hand and Russia, China and Iran on the other.
The Western world insists President Assad should go while Russia and China prefer the Syrian people being left alone to resolve their differences. Attempts by the US and their allies to secure a motion to intervene in Syria at the UN Security Council have been blocked by the veto and Russia and China.
We believe the Syrian people should be assisted to resolve their problems without undue interference from outsiders. Megaphone diplomacy and regime change politics being pushed by Washington and London will only exacerbate the already dire situation in that country. The warring parties need to be pushed to the negotiating table so that an amicable solution is found.
Syria is located in a strategic part of the Middle East and its conflict needs to be contained so that it does not spread to its neighbours as this risks torching a bigger problem pitting Sunnis and Shiites.
World powers must therefore tread carefully and avoid antagonising either party. Already there are reports of Turkey and the US wading into the conflict. Syrian newspaper al-Watan reported yesterday that Iran — a close ally of Damascus — warned Turkey not to intervene militarily.
“Any attack on Syrian territory will meet with a harsh response, and the Iranian-Syrian mutual defence agreement will be activated,” it reported on Monday.
The newspaper said Turkey and the US were planning to create “a safe haven guarded by the armed gangs” in the north of Syria.
“Turkey has received very strong warnings in the past few hours and the following message — beware changing the rules of the game,” al-Watan said.
We hope they heed the message.
Online Reporter