The statement was included in two separate letters the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates addressed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the rotating president of the Security Council, Francisco Antonio Cortorreal, on Saturday. The letters said that the crimes being perpetrated by the US-led coalition, the latest of which occurred in al-Kishkiyah and al-Shaafah towns in the troubled eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr, attested to the fact that the alliance had only sought to nurture the Islamic State and help it expand.

The ministry called on the UN Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities, and adopt immediate and effective measure to stop US-led airstrikes, mass killings and systematic destruction of Syria’s infrastructure. It also demanded the establishment of an independent and impartial international mechanism to investigate the crimes, punish the perpetrators and compensate the families of victims.