UN Chief Ban Ki-moon accused on Thursday Damascus of not abiding by peace plan sponsored by UN envoy Kofi Annan, a day after armed groups committed massacres in Hama and Damascus.
UN Chief Ban Ki-moon accused on Thursday Damascus of not abiding by the peace plan sponsored by UN envoy Kofi Annan, a day after armed groups committed massacres in Hama and Damascus.
"The Secretary-General remains deeply troubled by the continued presence of heavy weapons, military equipment and army personnel in population centers, as reported by United Nations Military Observers", Ban's press office said in a statement.
The statement added that Ban also considered this a "contravention of the Syrian Government's commitments to withdraw its troops and heavy weapons from these areas".
He demanded that Damascus comply with its pledge without delay.
Earlier on Thursday, an explosion took place in an apartment used by armed groups for building explosive devices, killing 16 people, including women and children, and injuring 12 others, a Syrian official source stated.
The source also pointed out that the explosion caused damages to the houses in the area.
In parallel, Syrian News Agency SANA reported that the armed groups committed a massacre against four citizens from one family in Erbin region in Damascus countryside.
For its part, the European Union stated Friday that “the Syrian authorities are failing to respect a ceasefire pledge to withdraw troops from urban centers in accordance with the agreed peace plan,” AFP reported.
“We are very worried about the continued violence despite the ceasefire adopted by the Syrian regime,” the agency quoted EU foreign policy chief’s spokesman as saying.
“The Syrian regime clearly is not fulfilling its commitments," Michael Mann said, adding that “they had promised to withdraw their troops from cities but this has not been the case."
He hoped that the arrival of 300 UN observers would change the situation on the ground, pointing out that “we are ready to support the mission technically.”
