Botswana on Friday fired a broadside at the United States of America (USA) for launching nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles against a Syrian air base.
Botswana fired the salvo whilst expressing appreciation for the role the Western super power has played in Syria.
“The recent missile strike by the United States of America (USA) on Syrian military targets is an escalation to the conflict, but in our view a necessary intervention that hopefully will send an unequivocal and strong message that the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), whether nuclear, biological or chemical is totally unacceptable,” reads the release from Foreign Affairs.
Botswana, however, condemned the USA for what it calls the use of conventional weapons against Syrian civilians. Botswana stated that, “in the same way, we condemn the indiscriminate use of conventional weapons as it has resulted in the killing of many innocent people, including children.”
The Syrian regime said that 16 people were killed in the U.S. cruise missile strike on a government air base, calling the attack “blatant aggression” that undermines its campaign against terrorism.
Botswana said it remains deeply concerned about the ever increasing brutality and crimes against humanity in Syria.
“To this end, we strongly condemn the continued massacre of innocent civilians by the Assad regime and its allies, including the alleged use of chemical weapons in the recent attack in Idlib province,” reads the statement.
Botswana “therefore, call upon the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), as the organ tasked with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, to re-double its efforts in finding a lasting solution to the protracted conflict in that country.”
Botswana also urged members of the UNSC to work towards reaching a consensus on how to effectively resolve this debilitating conflict that has decimated Syrian communities and to give up their partisan positions over the conflict that has resulted in a deadlock in achieving a peaceful resolution.
“We hope that those members of the UNSC who in the past blocked resolutions to find a political solution to this conflict, will reconsider their position in view of the recent atrocities in Syria,” reads the statement.
Botswana also expressed concern that if a sustainable solution is not found to this deteriorating security and humanitarian situation, it will remain a dark stain in the collective conscience of all and an adverse failure on the part of the UN and its primary objective of aiding humanity.
“The Government of Botswana thus, appeals to the UNSC and the international community as a whole to do its part by demonstrating collective unity of purpose aimed at urgently resolving this conflict,” reads the statement.
