The European Union on Thursday called for a nationwide ceasefire in Syria after dozens of people were killed in multiple attacks across the country on Wednesday. Separately, the regime executed 24 people charged with terrorism in connection with wildfires last summer
“The EU is concerned about the increasing violence in Syria, as we witnessed on Wednesday in Damascus and in the northwest, where at least 27 people lost their lives in one of the deadliest days in the country in recent times,” read a statement from a spokesperson.
- On Wednesday, 14 people were killed by two roadside bombs that exploded near a Syrian military bus in the capital Damascus. And 13, including three children, were killed by regime shelling in rebel-held Idlib province
The EU said it “calls on all sides to refrain from violence and show restraint” and backed ceasefire calls from the United Nations Syrian envoy Geir Pedersen.
Pedersen is chairing talks on constitutional reform that bring together regime and opposition representatives to find a political solution to a decade of civil conflict that has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population. The talks resumed this week, eight months after they left off having made little progress. Pedersen said the opposing sides are finally ready to begin drafting constitutional reforms.
This round of talks will conclude on Friday.
Syria executes 24
Syria’s justice ministry on Thursday announced the execution of 24 people convicted of “committing terrorist acts that led to death and damage to state infrastructure and public and private property through the use of incendiary material.”
Eleven others were sentenced to hard labour and jail sentences of 10 to 20 years.
"They confessed that they had started fires at several locations in” Latakia, Tartous, and Homs, the justice ministry stated.
According to the ministry, 187 fires burned through 13,000 hectares of farmland, 11,000 hectares of forests, and damaged more than 370 homes last year. The loss for farmers amounted to nearly 30 billion Syrian pounds.
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