VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis says civilian victims of Syria’s civil war are being victimized by the heartless and the powerful.
The pope, speaking Sunday after the traditional Angelus prayer, said that “it’s unacceptable that so many unarmed people, including many children, must pay the price of the conflict, the price of closed hearts and the lack of desire for peace by the powerful.”
He cited in particular the suffering around Aleppo, which is at the center of a battle between the rebels and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government. On Saturday, rebel forces breached the Syrian government’s siege on opposition neighborhoods in Aleppo.
The U.N. says 300,000 people have been trapped in the northern Syrian city.
