Civilians, innocent victims of terrorism

With increasing frequency, civilians fall victim to terror attacks around the world.

Roxana Vasile, 05.04.2017, 13:29

The Syrian opposition, in open
conflict with President Bashar-al-Assad’s regime, claims that the latter is
behind Tuesday’s chemical attack in the north-west of the country, which killed
scores of people, including children. On the other hand, hints coming from
Moscow, a supporter of Assad, suggest that the terror groups operating in the
region are in fact responsible for the tragedy. According to the Russians,
after the attack, the Syrian air forces bombed a warehouse used by the
insurgents where toxic substances were stored.

Caught in the crossfire, both literally
and figuratively speaking, innocent civilians die every day, falling victim to
a complex conflict that seems impossible to solve. The Syrian civil war has
been going on for six years without any indication that a solution is anywhere
in sight. Nearly 5 million Syrians have fled the country, including to Europe,
and more than 250,000 have been killed.

Several thousand kilometers up
north, in Russia’s second-largest city, Saint Petersburg, many families are
also mourning the victims of Monday’s terrible metro attack. The perpetrator, a
22-year old Kyrgyz, used two improvised explosive devices, one of which was
detonated in a carriage on the move between two central stations, while the
second, which had been left in another station, was safely defused.

The President of Romania Klaus
Iohannis sent a letter of condolence to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin,
reading We would like to convey our sincere condolences to you, the Russian
people and the mourning families following the outrageous attack at the Saint
Petersburg metro, which made victims among the civilian population, ending
innocent lives and severely wounding other passengers. Our compassion goes out
to the victims’ grief-stricken families, whose sorrow we share, and to the
wounded, whom we wish a speedy recovery. Klaus Iohannis also reiterates the
importance of carrying on the joint and coordinated efforts to fight the
scourge of terrorism and violent extremism, to prevent and combat it.

No country in the world, no matter
how developed, has ever been capable of overcoming terrorism on its own. Cities
like Paris, Nice, Berlin and London, in countries like France, Germany and the
UK, are as many spots on the distressing map of recent terror attacks, in which
Romanian citizens, whether tourists or residents, were also among the victims.
Expressions of compassion and solidarity are, of course, important. But it is
even more important to take concrete action against terrorism, a rare
occurrence in Europe until a few years ago.

For the time being, following the
attack in Saint Petersburg, the leaders of Russia, France and Germany agreed to
improve communication and the exchange of intelligence between their secret
services in this respect.