Deir ez-Zor residents condemn attacks on Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh,Bani Zaid

Residents of Deir ez-Zor Canton expressed their concern over the escalation by mercenaries of the Turkish-backed Syrian Interim Government, who since yesterday, Tuesday, have intensified their attacks on the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh, and Bani Zaid, targeting civilians and their property. The attacks have resulted in martyrs and wounded, amid a continued rise in the number of victims as the escalation persists.

In this context, Daham Al-Rawam, a resident of the city of Hajin, said: “We strongly condemn what the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh, and Bani Zaid are witnessing, and we see that what is happening is a blatant assault on civilians and a deliberate targeting of people who demand nothing but safety inside their homes.”

Al-Rawam added: “The siege of neighborhoods, the cutting off of basic supplies of food, medicine, and fuel, and leaving families to face hunger, cold, and fear constitutes collective punishment that cannot be justified under any circumstances, and represents a flagrant violation of all humanitarian and moral values.”

For her part, Nahla Al-Hamad, a resident of Deir ez-Zor Canton, said: “Forcing families to leave their homes, spreading fear among children and women, and violating the sanctity of residential neighborhoods represents a dangerous violation of all red lines.”

Meanwhile, Khetam Al-Saleh, an administrator in the Zenobia Women’s Gathering in Deir ez-Zor Canton, said: “Today we are witnessing a repetition of the same old methods, where Syrians are once again turned into direct targets and left at the mercy of uncontrolled weapons and chaos, in the absence of accountability and any real deterrents.”

Al-Saleh affirmed that “allowing armed groups to move freely and strike residential neighborhoods without deterrence constitutes a direct threat to civilians’ lives and sows fear in people’s hearts instead of protecting them.”

In the same context, Iman Al-Muhaimid, co-chair of the Inspection and Oversight Authority in Deir ez-Zor Canton, said: “To this day, the direct targeting of children, women, and civilians continues. What is the fault of the Syrian people? Everyone knows that those being targeted are neither politicians nor fighters, but ordinary people who lived for long years under oppression and injustice, waiting for a moment of salvation, only to be confronted with the return of the same methods, but in a more brutal and savage form.”

Al-Muhaimid questioned: “How can a reality be described in which the party supposedly responsible for protecting people is itself fighting them? A government that is supposed to defend the dignity of its people, yet enters into external arrangements at the expense of Syrian blood, building temporary and personal interests over the bodies of civilians. By what logic can such behavior toward the people be justified?” 

A-H 

ANHA