Washington: The United States on Saturday urged Syrian rebels to uphold the international rules of war after a video emerged purportedly showing opposition fighters executing Syrian soldiers.
“We condemn human rights violations by any party in Syria,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told journalists.
“There is no justification for that kind of behavior ever. Anyone committing atrocities should be held to account.” The video posted on YouTube appeared to show about 10 soldiers being beaten, then lined up on the ground and executed with automatic rifles, after Thursday’s rebel attacks on checkpoints in the northwestern town of Saraqeb.
The UN human rights body said the video could be evidence of war crimes.
“At this point, on day one, all what (we) can say (is) it’s a very shocking piece of video,” Rupert Colville, spokesman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in Geneva. “If it is as it appears at this point, then it would be a war crime,” Colville added. (PTI)