UN voices deep concern over safety of 400,000 people in Syria's Raqqa

The UN is deeply concerned about the safety and protection of over 400,000 people in Syria's Raqqa, a UN spokesman said Monday.

"In past weeks, civilians have been exposed to daily fighting and airstrikes which resulted in an escalating number of civilian deaths and injuries as well as damage to civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, markets and water infrastructure," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at the daily news briefing.

"Yesterday, airstrikes on Atabaqa City reportedly killed eight people including five children and damaged two schools. On April 22, dozens of people were reportedly killed and injured in airstrikes on an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp near Albardah village, 20 kilometers west of Raqqa," said Dujarric.

Some 39,000 newly displaced people fled to the Jib Al-Shaair makeshift camp in Ar-Raqqa governorate where four out of five people are staying in the open air without appropriate shelter, he said.

The UN has also received reports of the deaths of several children due to lack of medical care at the Jib Al-Shaair and Al-Karma camps and of critically injured people and sick children who are in need of urgent medical assistance, said the spokesperson. Endit