STOCKHOLM, Sweden: A former Syrian army general will appear before a court in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden over his alleged role in Syrian war crimes in 2012.
Western media reports citing an indictment on Wednesday said Mohammed Hamo, 65, who resides in Sweden, is accused of ordering indiscriminate strikes in the cities of Hama and Homs from January 1 to July 20, 2012.
The indictment stated that the strikes were carried out by land and air without distinction between civilian and military targets, as required by the international law.
Prosecutor Karolina Wieslander said the Syrian army failed to respect the principle of proportionality to achieve the military goal and Hamo is accused of being complicit in such crimes.
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He particularly made decisions pertaining to arming operational units and was responsible for implementing various military operations in that period.
Seven civil parties, from the Syrian cities in question, will testify during the trial. A British photographer who was injured during one of the strikes is also among them.
Half a million people killed in Syrian conflict
The war in Syria between Bashar-al-Assad’s government and armed opposition groups including Islamic State, started in 2011. More than half a million people have been killed in the conflict so far.
Russia is one of Syria, government’s key supporters, providing him with military, political and economic assistance in the country’s civil war.
Moscow’s intervention in the war has helped forces to retake the control of the much of the territory they lost in the conflict.
A ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey was reached in Idlib in March 2020, but it has been repeatedly violated.
