Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the bombings of the Syrian regime and its Russian ally over the province of Idleb since the beginning of the week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced on Friday, December 20. ).
The Idleb region, home to around three million people, many of whom are displaced from other Syrian regions, is dominated by jihadists from the Hayat Tahrir Al-Cham (HTS) group, a former Syrian branch of Al-Qaida.
This region, which is still outside the regime, was the subject of a cease-fire at the end of August but has been hit by regular bombing for weeks and is the scene of clashes. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 80 fighters have been killed in Idleb since Thursday, in clashes between regime forces and armed groups, some fifty rebels and jihadists and thirty pre-regime fighters.
Russian-Chinese veto at the UN
Russia and China vetoed the Security Council on Friday on a draft resolution by Germany, Belgium and Kuwait calling for the extension of the UN cross-border authorization, in force since 2014, for a year, with three crossing points, two at the Turkish border and one at the Iraqi border. Cross-border humanitarian aid (food, medical aid, etc.) benefits some four million Syrians, but eleven million Syrians, in total, continue to receive international aid after more than eight years of war.
The other 13 members of the Council voted in favor of the text. This is Russia’s fourteenth veto on a resolution concerning Syria since the start of the conflict in 2011, and its second veto in four months over a humanitarian text relating to this country. Syrian authorities "Have regained control over most of the territory" and this resolution is "Obsolete", said Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassili Nebenzia.
"There is no alternative" to this cross-border aid, retorted the French deputy ambassador, Anne Gueguen, describing the choice of Russia "Irresponsible" and of "Sinister". A position taken up by the US ambassador to the UN, Kelly Craft, who also spoke of irresponsibility and cruelty on the part of Moscow.
The UN authorization on cross-border aid expires on January 10 and the members of the Security Council keep the possibility of negotiating still a compromise by this deadline.
