Syrian opposition slams US reluctance to set up no-fly zone

US President Barack Obama’s reluctance to establish a "safe zone" in Syria contributed to Thursday’s refugee camp massacre by the Assad regime in the northwestern province of Idlib, a prominent Syrian opposition group has asserted.

"This criminal behavior shows there can be no talk of a political approach amid ongoing crimes by the regime and its allies," the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SNC) said in a Friday statement.

The coalition condemned what it described as the international community’s "silence" in the face of ongoing rights breaches by the Assad regime, which, it said, was tantamount to "complicity" in the latter’s crimes and gave it a "green light to murder Syrians".

On Thursday, according to reports, some 30 civilians were killed and dozens of others injured by a regime airstrike that targeted the Kamuna refugee camp near Idlib’s town of Sarmada.

"The women and children that were killed… in the Kamuna camp should have been in a safe zone, which US President Barack Obama has refused to establish," Anadolu Agency quoted the coalition statement as stating.

Coalition member Ahmed Ramadan, for his part, called for Assad to be referred to the International Criminal Court for prosecution as his regime had committed "blatant war crimes against women and children".

Turkey, France, the UK and the UN have all condemned Thursday’s airstrike on the refugee camp, which is located close to the Turkish border.

In March, Turkey’s National Security Council reiterated calls to establish a no-fly zone in northern Syria.