At Least 350 Civilians Killed In Recent Hostilities In Syria's Idlib - UN

(@FahadShabbir)

At Least 350 Civilians Killed in Recent Hostilities in Syria's Idlib - UN

At least 350 civilians have been killed recently in the de-escalation zone in Syria's Idlib, Najat Rochdi, senior humanitarian adviser to the UN special envoy for Syria, said on Friday, renewing calls on the international community to join UN efforts in addressing the dire humanitarian situation in the country

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2019) At least 350 civilians have been killed recently in the de-escalation zone in Syria's Idlib, Najat Rochdi, senior humanitarian adviser to the UN special envoy for Syria, said on Friday, renewing calls on the international community to join UN efforts in addressing the dire humanitarian situation in the country.

Russia and Turkey agreed on establishing a de-escalation zone in the northwestern Syrian province last fall. Most of Idlib is now controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of Islamic terror groups led by al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front (both terror groups are banned in Russia). There are reportedly 30,000 militants, including foreign mercenaries, in the region.

"At least 350 civilians are reported to have been killed in recent hostilities in the Idlib de-escalation area," Rochdi said.

Some 3 million civilians in the region lack protection and face a deteriorating humanitarian situation, the adviser noted.

Across the whole country, an estimated 11.

7 million people were in need of humanitarian aid, including 5 million of those in acute need, Rochdi said.

The official also condemned attacks on civilians and infrastructure in the country, saying that as many as 35 Syrian health facilities have been attacked this year in 45 separate incidents.

"Strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure - including de-conflicted health facilities and humanitarian workers - are absolutely unacceptable and may amount to war crimes," she said.

The civil conflict in Syria has been ongoing since 2011 between President Bashar Assad's government and various opposition groups, including terrorist organizations. In May 2017, the warring parties held talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana under the mediation of Russia, Iran and Turkey, and managed to conclude a ceasefire agreement and establish four de-escalation zones. The truce nevertheless regularly gets violated to the detriment of the civilian population.