UN Syria envoy re-highlights "freezing" fighting in Allepo

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria on Thursday expressed his concerns over the devastating situation in Syria and accentuated the significance of the proposed "freezing" of battles in part of the war-torn country.

As the Syrian conflict enters into its fourth year, Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Syria, addressed a press conference to shed light on the continuing torment borne by Syrian people, noting that 12 million Syrian people were in need of humanitarian assistance, 7.6 million have been displaced, and the number of Syrian refugees hit 3.3 million.

"We are starting 2015 with the Syrian conflict being the largest humanitarian crisis since the second world war. It is the place now providing more refugees than the Afghan refugees," said de Mistura.

"It is a disgrace. It is a true tragedy that people all over Syria continue to be living under constant fear of barrel bombs, mortar attacks, rockets, aerial bombing, car bombs, kidnappings, extrajudicial killings," said he.

The veteran diplomat re-highlighted his proposal of "freezing" heavy fighting in Aleppo in a bid to alleviate the suffering of the Syrians there and spare further destruction.

De Mistura said that he were engaged in intense discussions with the Syrian government and the opposition forces regarding the "freeze", and will send another delegation for further negotiations.

"Our hope is that Aleppo could be a signal of goodwill, a confidence-building measure which could and can facilitate the re-starting of a political process with a clear political horizon," the special envoy told reporters. Endit