In conversation with The Times, Bashar revealed that he had no weight on his conscience regarding the thousands of lives that have been lost in the last five years  in Syria where armed rebels hold cities hostage as state forces fight them for control. 

Syria’s violent civil war, which started as a largely unarmed uprising in 2011 against the Assad regime, has claimed thousands of lives while millions have lost their homes. 

Assad claims that innocent lives have always been lost during wars. When asked about how he sleeps at night with so many children continuously dying in  Aleppo, recently termed the most dangerous city in the world by UNICEF, Assad allegedly replied: 

 “I know the meaning of that question, — I sleep regular, I sleep and work and eat normal and do sports.” 

At least 100,000 children are allegedly stuck in rebel held parts of Aleppo, UNICEF claims. 

According to a report by the Syrian Centre for Police Research,  470,000 people have died in the Syrian Revolution that has gone on for five years now. The violence has wiped out 11.5 percent of Syria’s population. 

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in a May 2016 report, claimed that over 14,000 children have died in the violence. Hundreds more have died since. 

According to a Guardian report, Syria’s infrastructure, national treasury and internal institutions have been ‘almost obliterated’ by the ‘catastrophic’ impact of the war. 

Blaming the ‘terrorists; for the deaths of the civilians, Assad said:

“It’s the fault of terrorists and we are talking about war, not charity. In war you always have innocents hurt or killed. What do you do? You do your best. Terrorists are still in Aleppo and use civilians as human shields.”

He said Russian and Iranian forces have helped amplify the Syrian offensive against the rebels, even though Syria was still calling the shots. He also claimed that western media was ‘demonizing’ him as a killing dictator, whereas he is just doing his job.  

According to an Al Jazeera report in September, 9,364 people, including 3,800 civilians have been killed in the  last 12 months, after Russian involvement in the Syrian state offensive. 

The UN has also accused Syria of using chemical weapons in its anti-rebel offensive.

Brushing aside accusations of using chemical weapons,  Assad claimed many who previously opposed his government have changed allegiance to his cause since now they have seen the alternative, and know that Assad’s regime offers better odds than rebel-rule. 

Feature Image Source: AFP