Security Council calls surprise meeting on Syria amid Idlib fighting

The UN Security Council will meet today in open session to discuss Syria, where intense fighting is playing out between pro-government and jihadist-led forces, diplomats say.

Such a meeting was not on the council agenda for the day but it was requested by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait, non-permanent council members overseeing UN humanitarian operations in Syria, a diplomat says.

The United States asked that political aspects of the conflict also be addressed at the meeting, another diplomat says.

In May, the council held several meetings on Syria and the situation in the rebel-held province of Idlib. The UN feared a humanitarian catastrophe if fighting in the northwest region continued.

In recent weeks, Idlib has been the target of nearly daily bombardments by the Syrian regime and its ally Russia.

A picture taken on June 14, 2019, shows a man walking amidst the debris of destroyed buildings in the town of Ihsim, in Syria’s Idlib region. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

— AFP