Britain and US consider extra sanctions against Assad and his supporters

News that the two countries were considering additional sanctions came as Syrian rebels dealt a major symbolic blow to ISIL by capturing the town of Dabiq where the extremists had promised an apocalyptic battle.

British foreign secretary Boris Johnson (L) and US secretary of state John Kerry give a joint press conference after a meeting on the situation in Syria in London on October 16, 2016. Justin Tallis/WPShow more

LONDON // Britain and the United States said on Sunday they were considering additional sanctions against Syrian president Bashar Al Assad and his supporters, and called on Russia to help end the Syrian conflict.

It came as Syrian rebels dealt a major symbolic blow to ISIL on Sunday by capturing the town of Dabiq where the extremists had promised an apocalyptic battle.

“It is vital that we keep that pressure up and there is a lot of measures we’re proposing, to do with extra sanctions on the Syrian regime and their supporters, measures to bring those responsible for war crimes to the International Criminal Court,” said British foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

“These things will eventually come to bite the perpetrators of these crimes and they should think about it now,” he added, saying there was no appetite in Europe for “going to war” in Syria.

He said it was “highly dubious” that Mr Al Assad’s government and its ally Russia were capable of retaking the city of Aleppo or winning the war, calling on Moscow and Iran to show leadership to end the conflict.

“It is up to them to show mercy, show mercy to those people in that city and get the ceasefire going,” he added.

Mr Johnson was speaking alongside US secretary of state John Kerry, who briefed nearly a dozen European and Middle Eastern allies on talks with Russia and a group of Middle Eastern countries that had taken place in Switzerland on Saturday with the aim of ending the fighting.

Mr Kerry confirmed that the US and its allies were considering additional sanctions over Syria, but did not name Russia as a target.

“We are considering additional sanctions and we are also making clear that President (Barack) Obama has not taken any options off the table,” Mr Kerry said.

Russia and Syria stand accused of committing atrocities by bombing hospitals, killing civilians and preventing medical evacuations, as well as targeting an aid convoy, which killed around 20 people.

The two countries counter that they are only targeting extremists in Aleppo and accuse the US of breaking the ceasefire by bombing scores of Syrian troops fighting ISIL militants, over which Washington has expressed regret.

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels seized control of Dabiq and several nearby towns on Sunday, in the latest in a series of territorial losses suffered by ISIL in Syria and Iraq.

Dabiq, which is located in the northern province of Aleppo, is of little strategic value. But the town holds crucial ideological importance for ISIL and its followers because of a Sunni prophecy that states it will be the site of an end-of-times battle between Christian forces and Muslims.

The capture was confirmed by Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, along with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (a Britain-based monitoring group), and the Fastaqim Union, an Ankara-backed rebel faction involved in the battle.

Dabiq has become a byword among ISIL supporters for a struggle against the West, with the US-led anti-ISIL alliance portrayed as modern-day Crusaders.

But earlier this week, the extremist group downplayed the importance of the rebel advance on the town.

“These hit-and-run battles in Dabiq and its outskirts – the lesser Dabiq battle – will end in the greater Dabiq epic,” the group said in a pamphlet published online on Thursday.

* Reuters, Agence France-Presse