U N Secretary-General condemns bomb explosion in Syria

May 10,2012: The Secretary-General of the UNO Ban Ki-moon has condemned a bomb explosion which occurred in the vicinity of a convoy of UN observers in Syria, injuring several Syrian soldiers accompanying the delegation, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said on Wednesday. The observers, part of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), were on their way from Damascus for a visit to the southern city of Dar’a, under Syrian army escort. They had crossed a military checkpoint on the road approaching the town when the improvised explosive device detonated, shortly before midday.

The Secretary-General has strongly condemned this attack and called on all parties to adhere to the cessation of violence and to cooperate with, support and protect the UNSMIS observers
“We have no evidence to believe that the explosion was intended to target the UNSMIS convoy; however, this incident demonstrates the difficult and challenging conditions under which our United Nations observers are operating. It also demonstrates the volatile and dangerous situation in which the Syrian people have been living for months.” He said.

The crisis in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement similar to those across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed over 9,000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of thousands.