Off the wire
• U.S. initial jobless claims fall to 254,000  • Backgrounder: Athens, a meeting point for Eastern, Western civilization  • Spotlight: Syria's conflicting parties pin different hopes on Trump  • Backgrounder: Restoration work on the Athenian Acropolis  • HK Chief Executive: Shenzhen-HK Stock Connect to strengthen HK's international financial center role  • China begins new anti-graft inspection  • Kiev denies Russian report on Ukrainian saboteurs' detention in Crimea  • Roundup: South Sudanese, Ugandan youth benefit from life skills initiative  • Backgrounder: Acropolis of Athens, timeless symbol of world heritage  • Top Chinese political advisor meets Dutch parliament leader  
You are here: 　 Home

Syrians brace against harsh winter as fighting rages: UN official

Xinhua, November 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Senior Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Jan Egeland, warned Thursday that the lives and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians are at risk as winter sets in amid unabated fighting between warring factions.

"There is no doubt it will be the worst in this cruel war and I fear that it will be a real killer in many places," he told press after a weekly humanitarian taskforce meeting here.

"No place are we so worried at this time as for the quarter of a million civilians in east Aleppo," he added.

The last time aid reached eastern districts of what was once Syria's economic hub and largest city was in July this year.

The scene of intense ground fighting pitching forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebel factions seeking to oust him, east Aleppo is also running low on food.

"The last food rations are being distributed as we speak. There will not be more to distribute next week," Egeland warned.

Compounding this is the alarming medical situation, with an estimated 300 patients in urgent need of evacuation to receive treatment.

Egeland revealed that the UN launched last week a four-thronged proposal in a bid to assist as comprehensively as possible east Aleppo's civilian population.

Contingent on all parties to the conflict giving the green light, the UN hopes to provide much-needed medical supplies, conduct medical evacuations, deliver food and other critical supplies while sending more medical personnel to east Aleppo.

"It's a big operation to feed a quarter of a million people and also to do complex evacuations," Egeland cautioned.

If warring factions give the go-ahead, relief teams on the ground would need 72 hours to prepare operations and a few days and nights to carry out their objectives, he explained.

The Norwegian diplomat also reminded that conditions in other besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria are extremely concerning as a result of the conflict which kicked off in March 2011.

Some 400,000 people have died during the five-year war while millions more have been displaced by fighting and reigning insecurity. Endit