Eastern Aleppo may be 'totally destroyed' by end of year, warns UN envoy
| Publisher | UN News Service |
| Publication Date | 6 October 2016 |
| Cite as | UN News Service, Eastern Aleppo may be 'totally destroyed' by end of year, warns UN envoy, 6 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57fb6e1d40d.html [accessed 17 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
6 October 2016 - Detailing the bloodshed in eastern Aleppo, where in the last two weeks, 376 people - half of them children - have been killed, 1,266 injured, hospitals destroyed, and "all sorts of ammunitions" and weapons used, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria underscored today that this part of the iconic city may be totally destroyed in two months, leaving thousands dead and forcing countless more to flee.
"This is what you, we, the world, will be seeing when we [are] trying to celebrate Christmas or the end of the year, if this continues at this rate, unimpeded, [it could be] Homs multiplied by 50," stressed Staffan de Mistura at a press briefing following a humanitarian taskforce meeting on Syria, in Geneva today.
He also made a specific call on the Al-Nusra Front fighters, estimated to number about one thousand (in eastern Aleppo), as to whether they "are going to stay there [and] keep hostage [the civilians in the] city, because 1,000 of you are deciding the destiny of the 275,000 civilians."
"If you did decide to leave, in dignity, and with your weapons, to Idlib, or anywhere you wanted to go, I personally, I am ready physically to accompany you," he added.
He further called on the Russian and Syrian governments regarding whether they were ready to continue the level of fighting that has been ongoing, in the city where so many civilians are in imminent grave danger, "for the sake of eliminating 1,000 Al-Nusra fighters," or if they would announce an immediate halt in bombings if the Front left.
He further said that the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) is a very important entity and that the suspension of bilateral negotiations between the two countries "should not and will not" affect the existence of the Group, and emphasized the importance of the humanitarian task force, as well as the possibility of a body that would effectively and "perhaps more stringently" support future cessation of hostilities.
The respective taskforces on humanitarian aid delivery and a wider ceasefire, created by the ISSG, have been meeting separately since early this year on a way forward in the crisis. Russia and the US are the co-chairs of the taskforces and ISSG, which comprises the UN, the Arab League, the European Union and 16 other countries.
