Amader Brahmanbaria.com
United Nations: Condemning rampant war crimes in Syria’s nearly five-year-old war, a report by a UN commission of inquiry said Monday that accountability for these horrors must be part of the peace process.
“As the war is poised to enter its sixth year, its horrors are pervasive and ever-present,” the panel said in its 11th report on human rights violations in Syria.
Civilians remain the “primary victims,” often targeted for deliberate attacks by all sides, and the lives of Syrian men, women and children have been ravaged, the report said.
“War crimes by the belligerents are rampant,” it added. “Accountability is an essential part of this process,” the report said.
Daesh on Monday released the last of some 230 Assyrian Christians kidnapped a year ago in Syria after the receiving millions of dollars in ransom, Christian officials said.
Younan Talia, of the Assyrian Democratic Organization, told The Associated Press that about 40 remaining Christian captives were released early Monday and are on their way to the northeastern town of Tal Tamr.
Younan said the release came after mediation led by a top Assyrian priest in northern Syria.
The extremists captured the Assyrians, members of an ancient Christian sect, last February after overrunning several communities on the southern bank of the Khabur River in northeastern Hassakeh province.
Kidnapping for ransom is a main source of income for the extremists. In November, Daesh said it killed a Norwegian and a Chinese captive after demanding ransom for their release two months earlier.
Talia said Daesh demanded a ransom of $18 million for the Assyrian Christians. He said the figure was later lowered following negotiations. He said he did not know the final amount.
Osama Edward, director of the Stockholm-based Assyrian Human Rights Network, said 42 Christians, mostly young women and children, were released. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said 42 were released, including at least 17 women.
A Syrian Christian figure said the worldwide Assyrian community launched a campaign for the captives’ release shortly after they were abducted.
He said a bank account was opened in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil and donations began to flow in from around the world.
Multiple explosions hit a southern district of Damascus on Sunday, state television and witnesses said, and a monitoring group reported casualties.
The blasts hit Al-Tin street in Sayeda Zeinab, state TV said in a newsflash. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were four explosions.
