Geneva:An escalation in fighting across northern Syria illustrates the “fragility” of the situation in the war-torn region, a senior UN humanitarian official said today, urging sustained international efforts to protect millions trapped there, from “devastation.”
Reported shelling – with mortars allegedly containing chlorine gas – against densely populated neighborhoods in Aleppo was particularly worrying, Reena Ghelani, the Director of Operations and Advocacy at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told the Security Council.
“Any confirmed use of chemical weapons is abhorrent and a clear and egregious violation of international law,” she stressed. People with respiratory symptoms were rushed to the two main medical centres in the area, she continued, noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) “stands ready to provide further public health support as required.”
In addition, airstrikes were also reported in the Idlib Governorate on 24 and 25 November, Ms. Ghelani told Council members, which were the first such incidents in more than two months, since the demilitarization agreement between Russia and Turkey in September.
“The stakes remain high as the alternative is humanitarian suffering on a scale that would devastate a population of some three million people in northwestern Syria who have known nothing but war and suffering in recent years,” she warned.
Turning to humanitarian efforts, Ms. Ghelani, reported back on the joint UN-Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) convoy to Rukban, earlier this month. It was the first relief since January, which brought food and other essential supplies to nearly 50,000 displaced persons and allowed over 5,000 children to be vaccinated against deadly diseases.
The situation there, however, continues to remain troubling, she said, describing how “colleagues returned shocked from what they saw on the ground, reporting grave protection issues, increasing food insecurity and no certified medical doctors among the stranded population.”