US to take ‘firm, appropriate measures’ in response to Syrian govt violations
new york — The US will “take firm and appropriate measures” in response to Syrian government violations in a designated de-escalation zone in the country’s southwest, the State Department said on Thursday.
After seven years of war, the southwest of Syria, bordering Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, is one of the parts of the country still outside the state’s control.
President Bashar Al Assad’s forces have recovered swathes of territory from rebels with the help of Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, and he has repeatedly pledged to take back “every inch”.
Experts have investigated reported
If that doesn’t succeed, we have no other option but to liberate it by force.” Bashar Al Assad, Syria President
use of chemical weapons by Assad’s government. More than 500,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
Assad said his government was still pursuing a political solution for rebel-held southwest, but would use military force if the effort failed.
“We are giving the political process a chance,” he told Iranian channel Al Alam News in an interview published in an English translation by Syrian state news agency SANA.
“If that doesn’t succeed, we have no other option but to liberate it by force.”
Since last year, a “de-escalation” deal brokered by Jordan, Russia and the United States has contained fighting in the southwest.
The state department said any Syrian government military actions against that zone risked broadening the conflict. “We affirm again that the US will take firm and appropriate measures in response to Syrian government violations in this area,” it said in a statement. —