2nd LD Writethru: UN chief slams air attacks on hospital in north Syria

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday condemned the air strikes against Al Quds hospital in Aleppo, a city in north Syria, which killed 27 people on Wednesday.

He called on the warring sides in Syria to "immediately renew their commitment to the cessation of hostilities," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman.

"The secretary-general also reiterates his condemnation of recent indiscriminate shelling by government forces and opposition groups, as well as terrorist tactics by extremists," it said.

Al Quds field hospital, situated in a rebel-held neighborhood in Aleppom, was hit by a missile from a fighter jet on Wednesday, which killed 27 people, reports said.

"Attacks that target civilians are inexcusable violations of international human rights and humanitarian law," the statement said. "There must be accountability for these crimes."

Meanwhile, Ban also encouraged the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), in particular its two co-chairs, Russia and the United States, to exert pressure on all concerned to stop the fighting and to ensure credible investigations of incidents such as the attack on Al Quds hospital, the statement said.

The UN chief is convinced that only an agreement in line with the 2012 Geneva Communique and Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) can lead to a solution to the conflict in Syria, the statement said. "Instead of bombing civilian areas, all Syrian parties must renew their focus on a political process."

In Geneva on Thursday, Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, told reporters that Syria's nationwide cessation of hostilities is under serious threat of collapse, and that a humanitarian disaster is unfolding as violence increases in Aleppo and three other locations.

De Mistura is struggling to keep the peace process alive after the main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) left formal talks last week.

The United Nations said Wednesday that no date had been set for the next round of Syria peace talks.

While the Syrian government seeks to establish a broad-based national unity government to include members who reject terrorism as well as opponents in the national opposition who are not subject to foreign agendas, the HNC, the main umbrella group for opposition factions, backs the creation of a transitional governing body with full executive powers which has no place for incumbent Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Enditem