US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the rebels who toppled the Assad regime in Syria to “build toward inclusive governance.”
Blinken added that the US has “clear and enduring interests in Syria,” such as fighting the Islamic State, preventing weapons of mass destruction from falling “into the wrong hands,” and preventing “the export of terrorism and extremism” from the country.
“The region and the world have a responsibility to support the Syrian people as they begin to rebuild their country and chart a new direction,” Blinken said at the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) 5th Anniversary Conference this Friday. Monday (9).
“The United States must be committed to supporting them as they do so,” he added.
Blinken said senior State Department officials “are fanning out across the region as we speak” to work with regional partners on the crisis, but did not say whether the US is considering contact with the main Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), one
“The real measure of their commitment is not just what they say, but what they do,” the Secretary of State said.
Blinken also said the US continues to seek information about , who was kidnapped by the Assad regime more than a decade ago.
“With each party we engage, we will continue to seek information about Austin Tice so we can find him and bring him home to his family and loved ones,” he said.
Understand the conflict in Syria
The Assad family regime was overthrown in Syria on December 8, after 50 years in power, when rebel groups took over the capital Damascus. President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and is in Moscow after gaining asylum, according to a source in Russia.
Syria’s civil war began during the Arab Spring in 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad suppressed a pro-democracy uprising. The country was plunged into full-scale conflict when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.
Furthermore, the Islamic State, a terrorist group, also managed to gain a foothold in the country and came to control 70% of Syrian territory.
Fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia — joined in, escalating the country’s war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”
Russia has allied with Bashar al-Assad’s government to combat the Islamic State and rebels, while the United States has led an international coalition to repel the terrorist group.
After a ceasefire agreement in 2020, the conflict remained largely “dormant”, with minor clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.
More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.
