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Syrian situation alarming ahead of multilateral talks: UN official

Xinhua, October 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN deputy special envoy for Syria said Thursday that violence in the war-torn country must be abated as talks on Syria involving top U.S. and Russian officials as well as foreign ministers from key regional partners are to take place shortly in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

"On the humanitarian situation...I would like to emphasise one point: violence has to be reduced," Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy told press here.

"There has to be a stop to the bombardment, shelling, fighting especially indiscriminate attacks against civilian centers, medical facilities and heavily populated areas," he added.

The official warned that the situation in the northern city of Aleppo, especially in eastern rebel-held parts, is dire, and that the ability of medical personnel to treat emergency cases remains minimal.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are both scheduled to participate in multilateral Syria meetings on Saturday.

Ramzy confirmed that UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who is seeking to broker an end to the five-year conflict which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions more, will attend the meeting.

This latest round of diplomatic efforts comes after Washington suspended negotiations with Moscow over Syria. Endit