Syria slams increasing number of civilian deaths due to US airstrikes

    "The Syrian government fully rejects the disregard by the authors of the report to refer to the impact of the so-called international coalition, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians and members of the Syrian forces who are fighting Daesh," Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said while addressing the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday.
 
He further called on the UNSC to halt what he referred to as the illegitimate US-led coalition.
 
"The coalition committed two new massacres yesterday which claimed the lives of 29 civilians and injured dozens, including women and children in the villages of Shafa and Dhahret al-Allouni in eastern Dayr al-Zawr," Ja'afari added.  
 
Broaching the subject of Syria's militant-held Eastern Ghouta region, Ja'afari stressed that Saudi Arabia was arming and supporting the terrorists there.
 
The UN envoy also noted that the militants were using civilians as human shields and blocking humanitarian aid from reaching people living in the eastern suburbs of the capital Damascus.
 
Ja'afari also warned that the terrorists in the region were gearing up for a large-scale chemical attack, which he said they planned to blame on the Syrian government.
 
Eastern Ghouta has witnessed deadly violence over the past days, with foreign-sponsored terrorists there launching mortar attacks on Damascus in the face of an imminent humiliating defeat.
 
Western powers, however, blame the violence on the Syrian government's Russian-backed airstrikes.
 
'Is killing civilians an honorable action?'      
 
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia , who was also present at the UNSC meeting, condemned the council's inaction towards the increasing number of civilian deaths resulting from US-led coalition attacks.
 
"New reports are being received about 24 civilian casualties as a result of coalition airstrikes in the Dayr al-Zawr province," he added.
 
He noted that Western countries expect Russia and Syria to implement UN resolutions, while they turn a blind eye towards the coalition's actions.
 
Nebenzia went on to call for cooperation among all countries to battle terrorist groups wrecking havoc on the war-torn country.     
 
    "Are these second-class citizens? Or is the death of innocent civilians from the democratic bombs something trivial or something honorable," he asked. 
 
The US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be Daesh targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. 
 
The military alliance has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. It has also been largely incapable of achieving its declared goal of destroying Daesh.