SANA- Syria�s Permanent Representatives at the UN Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari stressed that the US-led �international coalition� had completely destroyed Raqqa city under the pretext of fighting Daesh (ISIS) terrorist organizations.

During a UN Security Council session held on Tuesday for discussing humanitarian situation in the city of Raqqa and al-Rukban refugee camp on the border with Jordan upon the request of Russia, al-Jaafari thanked Russia for requesting to hold this session on the situation in Raqqa, noting that �Raqqa is a martyred city that has been destroyed fully by the forces of the US and its alleged coalition under the pretext of fighting terrorism.�

Syria�s Representative said that the UN assessment mission to Raqqa said in its report that the city is facing a critical situation which necessitates its full reconstruction �and restructuring the public services.

The report also said that members of the mission saw the bulk of destruction affected the city as each building is either completely destroyed or partially damaged. The city lacks water, electricity, and mobile communications, and all the hospitals and infirmaries were destroyed, leaving the city without any operational hospital.

Al-Jaafari said that what had happened in Raqqa city is a one example of the crimes perpetrated by the US-led coalition under the pretext of combating terrorism while the goal of this coalition has never been fighting terrorism; its goal was undermining the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria and weakening power of the Syrian Arab Army and its allies.

He stressed that the true �achievements� of the so-called international coalition were killing thousands of innocent civilians using the dirtiest kinds of weapons and destroying the Syrian infrastructure, including dams, bridges, hospitals, schools, and developmental facilities and economic resources, citing as examples the massacres committed by the coalition in al-Mayadeen and al-Bukaman in May 2017, in al-Soura, al-Dablan, al-Mayadeen, Dhiban, and Tal al-Shayer in June 2017, in al-Zayanat and Kashkash in July 2017, and in the southern countryside of Hasaka, al-Shafa, Dhahret Alouni, and al-Bahra in February 2018.

Al-Jaafari said that the coalition not only attacked the Syrian Army but also supported and protected the remnants of Daesh through ensuring the safe exit of its members from Raqqa and Deir Ezzor as most of them are foreign terrorists, and the coalition instructed them to fight the Syrian Army and its allies in Deir Ezzor.

He noted that this session coincides with Syria�s Independence Day, marking the expulsion of French colonialism on April 17, 1946. He expressed regret that some countries, including France, the US, and Britain which had launched cowardly aggression on Syria on April 14th, have yet to understand that the will of the peoples to liberation and independence has become a firm truth.

Al-Jaafari said that the three countries crowned their support to the terrorist groups by launching an aggression with the participation of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel on Syria last Saturday following the defeat of their terrorist tools in Eastern Ghouta.

On the humanitarian situation in al-Rukban camp, Syria�s Representative stressed that the Syrian government agreed, in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), to deliver humanitarian aid to the camp, but the US forces which are present in the camp prevented that and set impossible conditions to deliver that aid.

He held the US responsible for the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the camp, asserting that the US is using the camp for training the remnants of Daesh and other terrorist organizations to exploit them in other battles against Syria, Iraq, Libya, and other countries in the region and the world.

Al-Jaafari asserted that the political scene in Syria is very clear and does not require draft resolutions or semi-daily meetings. Instead, the Council must fulfill its mandate as per the UN Charter and act against the occupation of Syrian territory by the United States, Israel, and Turkey, stressing the need to confront the states which are supporting terrorist groups and the countries which impose coercive measures against the Syrian people.

�In response to the lies and hypocrisy in the statements of some states� representatives on the visit of the fact-finding mission to Douma, I confirm that the Syrian government has implemented all necessary measures to facilitate the arrival of the fact-finding mission to Syria, and today the UN security team entered Douma at 3PM to assess the security situation on the ground, and if this team decides that the situation in the city is good, the fact-finding mission�s work will begin tomorrow,� al-Jaafari said, adding that the decision of entering Douma is up to the UN and the OPCW alone.

In turn, Russia�s Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzya stressed that the city of Raqqa has become ruins after the so-called international coalition has completely destroyed it and controlled it to evacuate the terrorists of Daesh from the area.

In his speech at the UN security Council�s session, Nebenzya added that civilians are dying every day in Raqqa because of landmines, as well as the huge destruction that affected the infrastructure.

The Russian representative reiterated that the presence of the US forces in al-Tanf area near al-Rukban camp constitutes a violation of the Syrian national sovereignty, warning against the huge humanitarian catastrophe that has befallen the locals of the terrorist-besieged towns of Kefraya and al-Fouaa in the northern countryside of Idleb.

H. Zain/ Hazem Sabbagh