1,000 civilians dead in Syria over four months, says UN
Bachelet says all 1,031 were attributable to government forces and their allies in Idlib and Hama provinces. Another 58 were caused by ‘non-state actors’ due to airstrikes, ground attacks
The UN human rights chief says her office has tallied more than 1,000 civilian deaths in Syria over the last four months, the majority of them due to airstrikes and ground atacks by President Bashar Assad’s forces and their allies.
Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, says 1,089 civilians were killed in the war-batered country between April 29 and Aug.29, including 304 children.
She said nearly all - 1,031 - were reportedly atributable to government forces and their allies in Idlib and Hama provinces. Another 58 were caused by “non-state actors.” Bachelet was speaking to reporters in Geneva on Wednesday to go over her first year in office.
Idlib province, near Syria’s border with Turkey, is the final stronghold of the rebels in Syria.
Meanwhile, the creation of a so-called “safe zone” in northeastern Syria has goten off to good start, with Us-backed Kurdish-led forces pulling back from a small, initial area along the Turkish border, a Syrian Kurdish official said - but calm can only prevail if Turkey also removes its troops.
Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the executive commitee of the Us-backed Syrian Democratic Council, said the understanding reached between Washington and Ankara last month, and in coordination with the Syrian Kurdish-led forces, constitutes a step toward starting a dialogue over mutual security concerns.
“We seek to find a way to dialogue, and starting to implement this plan expresses our readiness and seriousness,” Ahmed said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press.
“We want to tell the world and the coalition that we are ready to take serious steps to get to dialogue,” she added.
Turkey views the Us-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, in Syria as an extension of a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.
Ankara has already carried out military offensives inside Syria to push the group away from the western end of the border. Over the last weeks, Turkish officials threatened a similar offensive in northeastern Syria, where troops from the Us-led coalition are deployed to help the Syrian Kurdish-led forces in combating remnants of the Daesh.
The Syrian Kurds have been America’s only partners on the ground in Syria’s chaotic civil war. With US backing, they proved to be the most effective fighting force against the Daesh and announced its territorial defeat earlier this year.
The Kurds now worry about being abandoned by the US amid Turkish threats to invade Syria, and are keen to work out an agreement with both parties that would safeguard their gains.
Ankara and Washington announced last month that they would begin measures to implement a border “safe zone” to address Turkish security concerns. The Kurdish-led forces are expected to pull out of the zone, but details must still be worked out - including who then would patrol and administer it.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the weekend repeated threats of an offensive if Turkey’s demands on the zone are not satisfied, including that its soldiers control the area.
Ahmed said more US troops will probably be needed to implement the zone, though the Americans have not said whether they will deploy any.
“In the coming days, and because of the needs of the formation and implementation of the security mechanism, they may need more forces. It is not yet clear what the US administration would decide,” she said.
There was no immediate comment from the U.s.-led coalition.
There are around 1,000 US troops in Syria on a mission to combat Daesh. President Donald Trump had said he wants to bring the troops home, but military officials have advocated a phased approach.
Ahmed said initial steps have been positive but for calm to prevail Turkish troops must also retreat from the Syrian borders. She said while Turkey expresses concerns about the Kurdish-led forces, it is Ankara that has been a source of threat to Syria with the various military operations and its military posts in western Syria.
The Kurdish-led forces have begun removing fortifications along the border and have moved some troops away from the border. At least two U.s-turkish joint reconnaissance flights have flown over the area, and on Tuesday, joint patrols between US troops and Kurdish-led forces also examined the area where fortifications have been removed.