Syrians main victims of soaring violence: UN report

The head of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria warned Tuesday that Syrian civilians were bearing the brunt of an upsurge in violence since a ceasefire was brokered in February this year.

"Militarization of the conflict has risen significantly over the past six months. Parties need to refocus their efforts on protecting and relieving civilians while pushing for a political solution," Paulo Pinheiro explained.

"The brief pause in hostilities proved that when there is political will ... it's possible to lessen immediately the suffering of civilians," he added.

According to the commission's latest report, which covers the Jan. 10 - July 20, 2016 period, the dire humanitarian situation has been severely compounded by indiscriminate attacks on civilians, medical personnel, and civilian facilities.

Enforced disappearances, summary executions and other crimes committed by warring factions have also been recorded by the commission set up in 2011 to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law since March 2011 in the war-torn country.

Syria's northern city of Aleppo has been particularly hard-hit by unprecedented levels of fighting as warring groups vie for control of eastern parts of the city.

"Unimaginable crimes are occurring in Aleppo where an already calamitous situation has plunged even further into barbarity," Pinheiro warned.

A rise in casualties has been recorded as a result of daily air strikes, the report explained, while ground shelling attacks have further worsened the desperate situation.

The report found that both pro-government forces and rebel groups were responsible for attacks targeting civilians and key civilian infrastructure, which have led to scores of deaths and injuries.

The commission noted that the radical group Islamic State has continued its deadly attacks in government-held areas such as Jableh and Tartous where hundreds of civilians have been deliberately killed, while Syria's Yazidi population has also continued to suffer at the hands of terrorist fighters.

With the violence showing no signs of abating, protracted sieges in Damascus, Rif Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Homs and Idlib governorates have meant that close to 600,000 civilians are trapped.

Talks seeking to broker a political end to the five-year conflict have been on hold since April.

Pinheiro reminded that bringing parties back to the negotiation table was the only viable way to end spiralling violence and human rights violations.

"There is no other way to reach peace than the negotiations coordinated by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura," he iterated.

The report will be presented at the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council on Sept. 19.

Source : XINHUA