UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2020) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday warned that escalating violence in Syria's province of Idlib could bring unforeseeable consequences and called for an immediate halt to the ongoing fighting.
"We face the risk of an ever-more serious confrontation with increasingly unpredictable consequences," Guterres said. "It is crucial to break the vicious circle of violence and suffering. This man-made humanitarian nightmare for the long-suffering people of Syria must stop. It must stop now."
Guterres urged international donors to provide an additional $500 million to assist nearly 900,000 people, mostly women and children, recently uprooted by violence.
According to Guterres, an estimated 2.8 million people in the northwestern region of Syria require humanitarian support.
The UN chief further stressed the need to continue to pursue a political solution to end the conflict and the humanitarian suffering in the Arab republic. To this end, Guterres said, UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen has been in close and sustained contact with all parties involved.
