NOVANEWS
Syrian Minister of Information Adnan Mahmoud announced Thursday that a total of 1,300 violations of the UN-backed cease fire have been committed by armed groups since the truce went into effect on April 12, state-run SANA news agency reported.
The cease-fire is part of a six-point peace plan brokered by Arab League (AL), UN joint envoy to Syria Kofi Annan.
The plan, widely backed by the international community, calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, a daily halt in fighting for the delivery of humanitarian aid and treatment for the wounded, as well as talks between the government and opposition.
Mahmoud said armed groups have ramped up their crimes, kidnappings and assassinations since the activation of the cease- fire, adding that Syria, through its foreign minister, has notified Annan of the violations in a number of messages.
The minister, meanwhile, said his country has abided by Annan’s plan, stressing that the halt of violence requires an even-handed and transparent observation as well as stopping the armed groups’ violations.
Mahmoud reserved Syria’s rights to retaliate against any violation and aggression.
“We wait for Annan to exert real efforts, of which results could be felt on ground,” the minister said.
The information minister highlighted the “two massacres” committed over the past 24 hours in central Hama province and the Damascus suburb of Arabeen by armed groups, in which at least 20 people were killed.
In central Hama province, SANA said bomb-makers accidentally set off explosives they were manufacturing at a house in Masha’a al-Tayyar neighborhood, killing 16 people and injuring 12 others. However, the opposition accused the government troops of being behind the incident and said that the heavy shelling killed 70 in that area.
In Arbeen, a four-member family was killed by gunfire of armed groups on Thursday, said SANA.
Meanwhile, UN observers, who arrived in Syria 10 days ago to monitor the shaky cease-fire, inspected the location of the incident in Hama, according to Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman of Kofi Annan, however, the spokesman gave no details.
SANA said the UN observers on Thursday visited also the southern province of Sweida, the Damascus suburb of Douma, central Homs and Hama.
Currently, there are 15 observers on ground in Syria, four of whom were dispatched evenly to Homs and Hama. The number of the team is to grow to 100 within the next month and eventually would reach up to 300 in accordance with the UN Security Council’s recent resolution.
On daily bases, the monitors tour several hotspots across Syria to pave the way for the full mission.
