Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, said Tuesday that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other UN diplomats involved in the situation in Syria have been delivering constant messages to the Russian government regarding the situation in Aleppo.
In a press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Dujarric declined to directly answer questions about the response to the UN Secretary General messages, noting that “one can assess the situation on the ground and answer this question.”
Dujarric pointed out that “the Secretary General would like to see a stop to the violence in Syria. He would like to see a stop to the bombings …and the end of the suffering of the Syrian people. And that has been his consistent message.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations aid chief called for an end to bombings in Aleppo province on Tuesday after Russian air strikes sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing toward the Turkish border.
“The highest need and the best humanitarian response is for the bombing to stop,” Stephen O’Brien, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said when asked if Russia should halt its air campaign in the area.
Up to 35,000 people have fled the area in recent days, O’Brien said, adding that many have been forced to turn back towards Idlib after finding the border closed.
“A lot of people are currently on the move and to some degree back and forth on that route,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien thanked the Government of Turkey for its generous offer to host the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May, calling for making the summit “a turning point in which we commit to placing humanity as a driver of our decision making and make concrete steps towards ending the suffering experienced by billions of people today.”
The Assad regime’s ongoing onslaught on northern Aleppo province backed by intensified Russian airstrikes has triggered a mass displacement of civilians who fled towards the Turkish border. It is estimated that up to 100,000 civilians have been forced out of their homes as a result of the continued regime attacks on the area. (Source: Agencies)
