Brussels, 28/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 28 July, the EU condemned the truck bomb attack, for which Daesh has claimed responsibility, that left at least 44 people dead and 140 others injured in the mostly Kurdish Syrian city of Qamichli, and the ongoing offensive in East Aleppo (see other article).
“The EU strongly condemns all indiscriminate attacks and atrocities perpetrated by Daesh and other UN-listed terrorist groups against the Syrian people”, an EU spokesperson told EUROPE. She went on to stress that the EU supported the efforts of the coalition against Daesh by non-military means.
When asked about allegations of airstrikes by the international coalition close to Mimbej, in northern Syria, in which at least 60 civilians are reported to have lost their lives, she said that the EU was aware of the press reports. “When an allegation of civilian casualties caused by coalition forces is determined to be credible, Centcom (Central Command of the United States Army) investigates it fully and strives to learn from it sa as to avoid recurrence”, she said. Centcom will be investigating, she added. On Wednesday, the coalition announced that it was to conduct a formal investigation to determine whether these strikes had resultied in any civilian victims.
The EU spokesperson took pains to highlight the European contributions to the work of the co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group - the United States and the Federation of Russia - and of the UN Special Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, in creating conditions for the resumption of intra-Syrian negotiations. On Tuesday, de Mistura announced that he hoped to be able to restart the talks by the end of August.
Finally, she reiterated that a “Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition based on the principles of the Geneva Communique is needed to bring a lasting peace to the country, defeat Daesh in Syria and enable Syrians to return to their homes in safe conditions and to contribute to the reconstruction of the country”. (Original in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)