UN Calls for International Cooperation on Idlib

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United Nations Security Council has convened to discuss the escalating tension and conflicts in northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.

Mark Lowcock, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, and Geir O. Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, have briefed the Security Council meeting by teleconference.

Envoy Pedersen has indicated that despite UN pleas for all parties to end hostilities, hundreds of civilians have been killed in the last two months.

With more than half a million displaced, ordinary people feel dismayed and abandoned, the Special Envoy has underlined in his briefing.

'It can lead to grave consequences for civilians'

There is no military solution to the Idlib conflict, Pedersen has warned and added that it risks developing into a "bloody and protracted last stand on the Turkish border, with grave consequences for civilians."

Emphasizing the importance of an international cooperation and agreement on de-escalation to bring about a period of calm, Pedersen has indicated that he will "continue to impress on the main actors in the conflict their responsibility to take a different path."

373 civilians killed since December 1

Following Pedersen's briefing, Lowcock has also updated the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in the country.

According to the figures shared by Lowcock, while 586.000 people have been displaced in the last two months in an attempt to escape bombing and shelling, 373 civilians and three humanitarian workers from organizations working closely with the UN have been killed since December 1.

He has also indicated that having fled from Idlib, 144 thousand civilians have gone to Afrin, Azaz and al-Bab controlled by Turkey. (TP/SD)