UN chief 'strongly condemns' bomb attack in Syria

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Wednesday condemned a bomb attack that occurred in the vicinity of a convoy of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria ( UNSMIS).

"The secretary-general strongly condemns this attack and calls on all parties to adhere to the cessation of violence and to cooperate with, support and protect the UNSMIS observers," Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said here at a daily news briefing. "This mission and the efforts of the JSE (joint special envoy) are possibly the only remaining chance to stabilize the country and avert a civil war."

The attack occurred soon after the UNSMIS convoy had crossed a Syrian military checkpoint near Dar'a town in the south of Syria, according to Nesirky. There were no UN casualties or damage to UN vehicles in the explosion, but it did result in injuries of 10 Syrian soldiers, reports said.
Nesirky said that Ban indicated in his statement that there is no proof that the attack was meant to target the UN.

"The secretary-general says 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, " Nesirky said. "It also demonstrates the volatile and dangerous situation in which the Syrian people have been living for months."

The spokesman said that Ban is "deeply concerned" about an increase in the use of explosive devices throughout Syria of late.

"Such incidents, in addition to the continued violence reported in many cities in Syria, call into question the commitment of the parties to the cessation of violence and may have a direct impact on the future of the mission," he said.

Nesirky added that Ban spoke on the telephone Wednesday morning with Major General Robert Mood, who heads UNSMIS and was in the convoy when the explosion took place.

Ban expressed his concern to Mood and thanked the mission observers for their work "under difficult circumstances."  

UNSMIS was founded by the UN Security Council on April 21 to monitor a ceasefire in Syria and support the implementation of the six-point plan for peace in the country proposed by the UN-Arab League joint special envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, who negotiated a ceasefire in order to put an early end to the Syrian crisis which broke out in March 2011.