Situation in Syria becoming more worrying: UN official

UNITED NATIONS — The 15-month-old conflict in Syria has deteriorated vastly with the government attempting to recapture swathes of territory taken over by the opposition, the UN peacekeeping chief said yesterday.

“Yes, I think we can say that,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous said in an interview with Reuters and one other reporter when asked if the Syrian crisis could now be characterised as a civil war.

“Clearly what is happening is that the government of Syria lost some large chunks of territory in several cities to the opposition and wants to retake control of these areas,” he said.

Also, the United Nations has included Syria in its “list of shame” of countries ex- ploiting children during armed conflicts.

The report said the United Nations had received credible reports of recruitment and use of children by the Syrian opposition. Many of the victims of recent massacres in the Syrian towns of Houla and Mazraat al-Qubeir were children, UN monitors in the country have said.

Last week the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the fighting has been so intense in parts of Syria that at times it has qualified as a localised civil war. If the ICRC were to declare the Syrian crisis as an “internal armed conflict,” it would have legal implications regarding war crimes and compliance with the Geneva Conventions.

While Ladsous’ declaration does not carry any specific legal implications, it could carry political weight. Last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon warned that the risk of the Syrian crisis becoming a civil war was imminent.

Ladsous also spoke of a shooting attack on UN monitors in Syria yesterday, which occurred while they were trying to reach the Syrian town of Haffeh but were turned back by angry crowds who threw stones and metals rods at them.

“One of our observers was almost injured,” he said.

“There were many impacts in the car,” he added. “So it was deliberate.”

Three UN vehicles were fired upon, and it was not clear who was responsible for the shooting. Ladsous said the shots appeared to come from a crowd of civilians. — Agencies