US urges 'de-escalation' in Syria as anti-regime groups take ground

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US called for "de-escalation" in Syria Monday as anti-regime groups continued to take ground from Syrian regime forces.

"What we want to see are de-escalation and protection of civilians and minority groups, but our overall policy remains the same, is that we want to see a serious and credible political process to end this civil war once and for all," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.

"We hope that every country that has influence with the Syrian regime will push for full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution, 2254, that will push for the Assad regime to actually engage with its own people, to actually engage in a dialogue and a political process with its own people, instead of continuing to engage in civil war with them," he added.

He was referring to a 2015 UN Security Council resolution that sought to lay out a roadmap to end the Syrian conflict, now in its fourteenth year.

"We want to see a serious and credible political process to end this civil war once and for all, with a political settlement consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254," said Miller.

"Assad is a brutal dictator with blood on his hands, the blood of innocent civilians inside Syria, blood of his own people on his hands. Ultimately, what we want to see is a political process forward, but where the Syrian people get to determine who their leaders are," he added, referring to regime leader Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian opposition forces have engaged in clashes with regime forces for six days, and have made significant territorial gains, taking control of the regional hub of Aleppo, as well as areas south of northwestern Idlib province toward regime-held Hama.

After reclaiming most of Aleppo's city center and all of Idlib province from regime forces, the groups have most recently taken control of eight more settlements, including Al-Jalamah, Al-Zakah, Jubbayn, Tal Meleh, Kirkat, Al-Mughayr, and Al-Mabatan.

Also, the anti-regime forces targeted a location near Hama city used by Iran-backed forces, and captured the strategic town of Morik along the M5 highway, which connects Aleppo with the capital, Damascus.