A top UN humanitarian aid official for Syria says the United States, Russia and other powers have expressed a “common agreement” on the need for a peaceful way forward for the rebel-held province of Idlib.
OCHA regional humanitarian coordinator Panos Moumtzis echoes concerns among many about possible bloodshed in a widely expected offensive by Syrian government forces and their Russian and Iranian allies upon a region largely controlled by an al-Qaida affiliate.
Speaking to reporters after a UN-backed humanitarian task force meeting chaired by the US and Russia, Moumtzis says the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and its partners want to be ready for up to 900,000 people who could flee Idlib.
“We hope it won’t happen … we hope it will not be needed.”
He quotes an unspecified Russian official in the closed-door meeting as saying that “every effort” was being made to find a peaceful way out of the crisis.
Officials estimate that nearly 3 million civilians are in Idlib.
— AP
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