<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Spanish government has expressed its “concern over the violence in recent days in Syria” following recent clashes between government military forces and groups loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad, which have caused around a thousand deaths, mostly from extrajudicial executions at the hands of pro-government forces.</strong></h4> In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that this escalation of violence must be investigated and “those responsible cannot go unpunished.” “Any type of difference must be resolved by peaceful means,” the Ministry continued. “Spain supports a peaceful and inclusive political transition, with the participation of all Syrian citizens,” it concluded. The security forces of the new Damascus authorities launched an armed operation last Thursday against groups loyal to Al Assad in the provinces of Latakia and Tartus, in western Syria, in response to an ambush and several attacks by insurgents against the Army. This is the largest outbreak of violence since the fall of the previous regime last December, after a joint offensive by rebels and jihadists. According to the prestigious Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, during the offensive - launched by government forces and allied armed groups - more than 970 civilians belonging to the Alawite minority, the branch of Shiite Islam of the Al Assad family and whose hard core is located, precisely, in these two provinces, were executed "in cold blood." The Syrian Ministry of Defense announced on Monday the end of all its operations, whose objective, it specified, were "the security cells and the remains of the former regime", hidden in the rural and mountainous regions of western Syria. Ahmad al Shara, Syria's transitional president and leader of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), announced on Sunday the creation of a commission to investigate the "violations" committed during these operations and to "preserve civil peace."
