UN calls for an end to the killing // Ankara urges President Bashar al Assad to find a political solution
▲ Displaced Syrians drive through the city of Khan Shaykhun to flee the confrontation areas in the city of Hama.Photo Afp
Afp, Reuters, Ap, Sputnik and Europa Press
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, December 6, 2024, p. 23
Beirut. Syrian fighters led by pro-Turkish Islamists entered the city of Hama yesterday after fighting with the army of President Bashar al Assad, who acknowledged no longer having control of that strategic town in the center of the country.
Abu Mohammed al Golani, leader of the Turkish-backed jihadist organization Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), announced in a video message that the group arrived in the city in a conquest that is not vengeful, but one of mercy and compassion.
Al Golani toured the city of Aleppo publicly on Wednesday and spoke about Hama yesterday from a location that was not identified in what appears to be a mobile phone video.
Local media showed fighters from the Sunni group HTS parading through the metropolis at dusk, while celebrating with shots in the air, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported that the militants They entered several neighborhoods of the city of Hama, where fighting is taking place with regime troops.
Our Forces entered Hama central prison and freed hundreds of unjustly detained prisonersHasan Abdel Ghani, military chief of the pro-Turkish coalition, confirmed on his Telegram account.
After having control of the city, the organization said it was prepared to head south, towards Homs, which links the capital, Damascus, with the north and the coast. Late at night, tens of thousands of Homs residents, mainly members of the Alawite community to which Al Assad belongs, fled to the west coast, according to the OSDH.
Al Golani heads the HTS group, considered the most powerful group in Syria, which for a long time was a branch of Al Qaeda in that country and is classified as a group terrorist by the United Nations (UN), the United States and other countries, recalled the Ap news agency. According to the United States government’s rewards for justice portal, HTS was formed after a merger of the Al Nusra Front (ANF) with smaller groups; besides, controls a portion of the territory of northwestern Syria with the purpose of overthrowing the Al Assad regime.
Unrest since 2012
Hama is an important enclave in Syria, linking the center of the country with the north, as well as the east and west, and is located 200 kilometers north of the capital, Damascus, which also borders the coastal province of Latakia, seat of government and base of popular support for Al Assad.
With the military support of Russia, Iran and the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement Hezbollah, the Syrian government recovered much of the country in 2015 and in 2016 all of Aleppo, the eastern part of which was taken by the militants in 2012.
There are 280 thousand people in humanitarian emergency
The recent escalation of violence in the northwest (of Syria) has displaced more than 280 thousand people, adding to years of suffering of the people of that country, the UN World Food Program (WFP) reported in its X account. In addition, it reported that it is working to increase its presence in the Arab country to provide food to the population, but it needs support urgent to meet needs.
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, demanded an end to the killing in Syria, the result of a chronic collective failure when it comes to achieving a political solution to the conflict.
After 14 years of serious disagreements, it is time for all parties to engage Geir Pedersen, my special envoy for Syria, to finally discuss a new inclusive and comprehensive approach to resolving the crisishe expressed.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is an important supporter of the militants, urged Al Assad to find urgently a political solution.