The White House said attacks on religious minorities in Syria have raised serious concerns about whether Syria's interim government is willing to include religiously and ethnically diverse populations and whether the interim authorities have the legitimacy to do so at all.

National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt welcomed the recent agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), telling Al Arabiya TV that reaching a settlement at the negotiating table is preferable to the battlefield.

“The United States will continue to monitor Syria and the decisions its leaders make,” Hewitt said.