Syria is experiencing a wave of violence not seen since 2020, a UN commission of inquiry said in a report released in Geneva on Monday, stressing that a ceasefire was urgently needed.
"Since October, Syria has seen the largest escalation in fighting in four years. With the region in turmoil, a determined international effort to contain the fighting on Syrian soil is imperative," commission chair Paulo Pinheiro said.
"Syria, too, desperately needs a ceasefire," Pinheiro added against the backdrop of attempts to arrange a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Protests erupted in Syria in 2011 against the government of Bashar al-Assad. The regime cracked down violently, which later expanded into an all-out civil war in the country.
The commission pointed to an upsurge in fighting in Syria after explosions during a graduation ceremony at a military academy in the government-controlled city of Homs on October 5 killed at least 63 people, including 37 civilians, and injured scores more.
Syrian and Russian forces had responded with bombardments on areas held by the opposition, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians. These attacks, "which may amount to war crimes," hit hospitals, schools, markets and camps for internally displaced persons, the commission said.
Syrian forces had used cluster munitions in densely populated areas, "continuing devastating and unlawful patterns that we have documented in the past," commission member Hanny Megally reported. The October attacks had caused some 120,000 people to flee, many of them previously displaced, he said.
"It should be no surprise that the number of Syrians seeking asylum in Europe last October reached the highest level in seven years. Syria remains the world's largest displacement crisis with over 13 million Syrians unable to return to their homes," Megally added.
Tensions between the various forces in Syria had increased since war broke out in the Gaza Strip, the commission said.
