Source: Press TV
Syria has strongly denounced a deadly Takfiri bomb attack on buses carrying people from two Shia-majority villages in the northwestern province of Idlib, calling on the United Nations to hold responsible the countries that fund terrorists and provide them with weapons and ammunition.

At least 126 people, including 68 children, were killed and dozens of others sustained injuries on Saturday, when a bomber blew up an explosive-laden car, ripping through several buses carrying evacuees from Kefraya and Foua villages in Idlib as they were waiting in al-Rashidin district to enter the city of Aleppo.

In two letters to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council on Sunday, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said the barbaric attack clearly revealed that the terror groups, particularly Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist groups, had been wearied by Syria’s repeated victories.

The ministry’s statement also stressed the need for coordinating international attempts aimed at battling terrorism in the Arab country and the necessity of full cooperation with Damascus in any counter-terrorism endeavor.

Elsewhere in the statement, the ministry said that some countries that claimed they supported human rights showed that their policies were aimed at more killings and destruction when they refused to condemn the deadly bus attack as a crime against humanity.

It added that the Saturday bombing complemented the US attack on the Shayrat Airfield in Homs Province with a barrage of 59 Tomahawk missiles on April 7, which caused some 15 fatalities, including civilians.

On Saturday, the UN condemned the bombing in al-Rashidin, calling on “the parties to ensure the safety and security of those waiting to be evacuated.”

The Syrian Foreign Ministry further called on the UN to pressure main supporters of terrorists operating inside the Middle Eastern country, namely Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, France, the UK and the US, to stop their support for terrorist groups.

Source: Press TV
Several civilians have been killed and several more have been wounded in the US raid on a Syrian airfield in Homs province, local officials confirmed.

Governor of Homs province Talal Barazi told reporters that the US strike on a Syrian airfield has led to civilian casualties in a village near the base, as well as the airbase itself, adding at least five people have been killed and seven wounded.

Two civilians and three military personnel were killed in the strike, AP reported, citing the governor.

The American missile attack on Syria won’t topple its government or change the policies of Damascus, he said after a barrage of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles targeted a Syrian airfield.

“The Syrian leadership and Syrian policy will not change,” Barazi said in a phone interview with Syrian state television. “This targeting was not the first and I don’t believe it will be the last.”

He added that Shayrat airbase will be rebuilt and continue to play a role in fighting terrorists.

Earlier, Barazi told Reuters that firefighting and rescue operations were under way at the Shayrat airfield after the US attack, but he believed that there were not many casualties on the ground.

Barazi said Washington’s escalation of the conflict in Syria only served terrorist groups such as ISIL.

The governor said that the base played a significant role in the recent capture of the city of Palmyra from ISIL.

The Syrian state TV called the attack “American aggression”.

On Friday, US warships in the Eastern Mediterranean fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at the Syrian airfield, with Pentagon claiming that it was used in a chemical weapons attack against a rebel-held town in Idlib province on Tuesday.

The retaliation came before the UN or the OPCW, the chemical weapons watchdog, could investigate the incident. Washington sided with the rebel-linked activists, which accused Damascus of killing civilians with toxic gas.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reminded US on Thursday that all chemical weapons were taken out of Syria in mid-2014 with Washington’s assistance.

The ministry said that Russia considers US Vice President Mike Pence’s statements claiming that Moscow and Damascus allegedly did not fulfill obligations to destroy Syrian nuclear arsenal to be groundless, Sputnik reported.

Pence had no grounds to say that the 2013 deal on the Syrian chemical weapons’ destruction failed.

The ministry said that Russia-US cooperation on the issue was overall and quite successful.

Moscow said that it was premature to accuse the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in Idlib, adding that Russia insists on conducting a full-fledged probe into the issue.

In 2013, the Syrian authorities agreed to transfer its stockpiled chemical weapons to international control for their subsequent destruction, so as to prevent them from falling into the hands of militants operating in the country.

Syrian opposition claimed Tuesday forces loyal to President Bashar Assad had used a chemical gas on people in the Northwestern province, killing nearly 80 and injuring 200. Assad argued his government had no chemical weapons after agreeing to have them destroyed in 2013. He also ruled out having used chemicals against own people.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier in the day that the US-UK-France-backed draft resolution on the chemical weapons in Syria was based on fake reports mostly from the White Helmets and the SOHR “which cannot be called reliable.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said early Wednesday the airstrike near Khan Sheikhoun was carried out by Syrian aircraft, which struck a terrorist warehouse that stored chemical weapons slated for delivery to Iraq.