Press Statement

Syrian Coalition

Istanbul, Turkey

January 21, 2014

The Syrian Coalition condemns the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham's (ISIS) attack on the Anadolu Agency headquarters in Sheik Najjar neighborhood, Aleppo. ISIS confiscated technical equipment from the agency’s headquarters after Anadolu issued a report on the extremist group.

The attack comes as an internationally renowned panel of experts has found evidence of systematic torture and killing by the Assad regime. The panel examined about 55,000 images of around 11,000 corpses. The images were smuggled out of Syria by a defected photographer. Most of the images depict severely tortured, emaciated, and executed detainees.

With these actions, ISIS has violated international law. It has suppressed liberties and silenced activists in areas under its control. The Syrian people dubbed the group “enemy of the people,” and chanted against its alien ideology in large public demonstrations in different areas across Syria. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) echoed, in recent weeks, the Syrian people’s rejection of the group and carried out a major military operation to restrain ISIS in northern Syria, safeguarding the values of the revolution which include freedom, justice, and dignity.

We ask for Mercy for our martyrs, health for our wounded, and freedom for our detainees.

Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.