UN Observer in Syria. Photo Courtesy of UN Photo/Neeraj Singh
The Syrian civil war has continued it’s intensive bloodshed into the new year, and the United States expressed it’s horror on Wednesday at this week’s regime attack near the University of Aleppo that resulted in the death of more than 80 people according to reports. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on their Facebook page that the University violence had killed 87 people, with sources saying that number could cross 100.
SOHR said students and refugees living at the University were the majority of the dead. The US State Department said in a press release that they were “appalled” by the attack, citing eyewitnesses as saying that “regime planes launched aerial strikes in the vicinity of university facilities.”
The government of Bashar al-Assad has continued its assault on rebel forces across Syria this week in a conflict that has reportedly killed more than 60,000 and is approaching its two-year-anniversary. What began as a vicious crackdown on peaceful opposition protestors has turned into a full-scale civil war.
“We condemn any attack on unarmed civilians and continue to emphasize that those responsible for unlawful killings and other violations of international law will be identified and held accountable,” US spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in the press release.
“Our sympathies and condolences go out to all those devastated by this senseless tragedy, which is only the latest in a long stream of losses inflicted by the Assad regime on its own people.”
Based on reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights’ Facebook page, it appears the Syrian violence—both regime assaults and rebel attacks—continues to be widespread, ranging from Aleppo in the country’s north near Turkey to the Daraa Province in the south near Jordan and Israel.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, January 17, 2013)