ASTANA. Jan 23 (Interfax) - The Syrian opposition delegation in Astana is defending the terrorist group Jabhat al-NUsra (banned in Russia) and refusing to support military operations against it, according to Bashar Jaafari, head of the Syrian government delegation at talks in Astana.
"Opposition representatives are talking about a military operation conducted by the Syrian army against terrorists who seized a source of drinking water for Damascus, we are talking about seven million people who have had no access to drinking water for 42 days," Jafaari told journalists on Monday.
"For the opposition delegation, these people are not terrorists, even though al-Nusra has not joined the truce agreement like other groups have," the Syrian representative said.
"How can one defend those who are not part of the agreement? It means you are defending terrorists, the people who are using water as a weapon. Besides, this group was placed on the UN list of terror groups. You cannot defend terrorists and condemn the Syrian army's actions," Jafaari said.