Skip to main content

UN chief terms Turkish troops’ killing one of ‘most alarming moments’ of Syria war

un chief turkish troops

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Friday described an increase in fighting in northwest Syria that killed dozens of Turkish troops as “one of the most alarming moments” of the nine-year-old war and – along with most UN Security Council members – called for a ceasefire.

The 15-member Security Council met on Friday after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in Idlib, one of the deadliest attack suffered by Turkey’s army in nearly 30 years.

“We call for the Russian Federation to immediately ground its warplanes and we call for all Syrian forces and their Russian backers to withdraw to the ceasefire lines first established in 2018,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, told the council.

Turkey and Russia gave opposing accounts to the Security Council of what happened.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Turkish troops shared coordinates with Russia, which were then given to Syrian government forces, to avoid conflict on the ground. He said Russian warplanes were not providing support in the area where the Turkish soldiers were killed.

Turkish U.N. Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu disputed Nebenzia’s account, saying that “radar tracks” showed that Syrian government and Russian aircraft were flying in formation during the time of the attack.

“We had prior coordination in writing with Russian forces about the location of our convey and air strikes continued despite our immediate warnings right after the very first attack,” he said.

Craft urged Guterres to do everything in his power to broker a ceasefire, saying “the U.N. must play a central active role if we are to avoid even greater escalation.”

Ahead of the Security Council meeting, Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire “before the situation gets entirely out of control,” adding that: “Civilians are paying the gravest price … And the noose keeps tightening, as the frontlines reach more densely populated areas.”

The post UN chief terms Turkish troops’ killing one of ‘most alarming moments’ of Syria war appeared first on ARY NEWS.



from ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/2waQJip
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma
Post a Comment
Read more

Young girl’s tragic story makes her symbol of Yemen war

Buthaina Mansur al-Rimi’s life has changed drastically since last year — orphaned in Sanaa, the little girl controversially ended up in Saudi Arabia for medical care and has just returned to Yemen’s capital. Her entire immediate family was wiped out in an air strike by a Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen’s government, using an explosive device Amnesty International says was made in the US. Images of Buthaina’s rescue and a picture of her swollen and bruised at a hospital trying to force open one of her eyes with her fingers were beamed worldwide. That international fame saw her become something of a propaganda pawn in the war between Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels and Saudi media. “I was in my mother’s room with my father, sisters, brother and uncle, the first missile hit, and my father went to get us sugar to get over the shock, but then the second missile hit, and then the third,” she says. “And then the house fell,” adds the little girl, who says she is eight. It was the
Post a Comment
Read more