Damascus slams fresh civilian killing by militants in Idlib, world inaction

Damascus has strongly condemned the latest massacre of civilians by foreign-backed militants in Idlib Province, criticizing the international community for failing to stop foreign support for the Takfiris operating in Syria since March 2011.

Premier Wael al-Halaqi stressed on Thursday that the massacre is further evidence that there is no such thing as “moderate armed organizations,” adding that all of the militants are terrorist Takfiris shedding civilian blood and destroying Syria.

Halaqi said countries that support terrorism, particularly the US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, are to blame for the massacres.

He also criticized the international community and international bodies for neglecting their responsibilities in stopping the countries that support terrorists.

The Syrian premier, however, expressed confidence about Syria’s victory in the battle against terrorists despite the escalation in terrorist activities and the West's economic and media war against Damascus.

The remarks came after terrorists from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and another Takfiri group reportedly massacred at least 30 people in Syria’s troubled northwest.

Syria’s official SANA news agency on Thursday said the appalling massacre was committed by the al-Nusra terrorists and fellow Takfiri militants from the so-called Ahrar al-Sham group in the Qalb Lawzah village of Idlib Province on Wednesday evening.

At least 30 people, including five members of a single family, three clerics and two women, were killed in the attack, said the report, adding that the “terrorists... looted and burned dozens of homes” after they went on the shooting rampage in the region.

Meanwhile, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported on Thursday that at least 20 local residents were killed in the shooting, which came after they tried to prevent an al-Nusra commander from confiscating a house belonging to a man in the village.

“Relatives of the owner of the house protested and tried to stop him, then there was an altercation and shooting,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the Observatory’s director.

The al-Nusra commander, a Tunisian national, then “brought his men and accused the Druze residents of the village of blasphemy and opened fire on them killing at least 20 people, among them elderly people and at least one child,” he added.

The UK-based monitoring group also said local residents had weapons and returned fire, killing three al-Nusra Takfiris.

The foreign-backed Takfiri militant groups systematically target all communities in Syria, including Muslims, Christians and Kurds.

Syrian government forces have been engaged in heavy battles to liberate the militant-held areas across the country, inflicting heavy losses on the foreign sponsored terrorists on several fronts.

JR/MKA/HMV

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