The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms the car bombing and mortar shelling in the Zahra neighbourhood in central Homs yesterday, which killed and wounded dozens of civilians. In Damascus, mortar fire has again targeted civilian areas, hitting a technical institute. These are horrendous acts of terror against innocent civilians.

The Secretary-General deeply regrets that the attack in Homs comes in the midst of ongoing cease-fire negotiations over the Old City of Homs and calls on the government and opposition groups to resist provocative attempts at undermining any peace efforts. He reiterates his position that no side can achieve a military victory in the Syrian conflict.

The Secretary-General appeals to all parties to this terrible conflict to at last live up to their responsibility under humanitarian law and stop targeting civilian areas, including through aerial bombardments and barrel bombs.

The heart-breaking situation in Syria falls not only on the conscience of the perpetrators of these acts, who must be brought to justice, but also on all Syrian and international actors, who must put their differences aside and exercise humility and bravery to work together to stop the violence and achieve a political solution to the Syrian conflict.