UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th June, 2020) The United Nations is concerned about the renewal of airstrikes in northwest Syria in breach of the ceasefire put in place in early March and urges all parties to fully cease hostilities and address the threats of the novel coronavirus pandemic, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
"Our humanitarian colleagues are concerned about the safety and protection of four million civilians in northwest Syria, with the first airstrikes since March 5 ceasefire have been reported in the last few days," Dujarric said. "The United Nations once again calls on all parties to heed the call by the Secretary-General and the UN Special Envoy Geir Peterson for a full ceasefire as an essential measure to enable communities to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic."
Earlier on Tuesday, several communities in the southern province of Idlib were impacted by airstrikes, following strikes in northern Hama on Monday, Dujarric said.
"There are no reports of casualties, but civilians have reportedly left the areas that were impacted," Dujarric said, adding that the scale of displacement is not clear.
The situation in Idlib escalated in late February, when members of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terror group (banned in Russia) launched a large-scale attack on the positions of the Syrian government forces and the Syrian army returned fire.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Turkish soldiers, which were not supposed to be there, also came under fire.
