Syria is now in a full-scale civil war as President Bashar Assad’s military loses control of territory around the country, a top UN official said yesterday.
Asked whether he believed Syria is in a civil war, UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said: “Yes I think we can say that ... I think there is a massive increase in the level of violence, so massive indeed that in a way it indicates some change of nature in the conflict. Now we have confirmed reports of not only of the use of tanks and artillery but also attack copters.”
Ladsous also gave details on the firing against UN observers near Al-Haffe. “We thought he was injured but in fact the bullet did not enter him but hit his boot.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Russia yesterday of sending attack helicopters to Syria, saying Moscow is lying about its arms shipments.
“We are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria, which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically,” Clinton told a think-tank discussion in Washington.
A Saudi trade body canceled yesterday a meeting with a Russian delegation of businessmen in protest at Moscow’s position.
Meanwile, gunmen freed six Syrian Allawites and a Shiite yesterday, following the release of a Lebanese Sunni kidnapped in the same region.
