TEHRAN, MARCH 1-The Russian defense chief has called on the UN to set up an international commission to assess the humanitarian situation in the northern Syrian city of Raqqah, which is controlled by US-backed Kurdish militants.
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club(YJC) -The Russian defense chief has called on the UN to set up an international commission to assess the humanitarian situation in the northern Syrian city of Raqqah, which is controlled by US-backed Kurdish militants.
In a letter to UN envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, Sergei Shoigu suggested “opening humanitarian corridors from Al-Tanf and Rukban, and establishing an international commission to evaluate the humanitarian situation in Raqqah,” Russia’s TASS news agency reported on Thursday.
Raqqah fell in the hands of US-sponsored Kurdish militants last year after they managed to drive Daesh terrorists out of the city. They have refused to hand back the control of Raqqah to the Damascus government.
The comments came days after Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov warned against an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Raqqah, noting that the US-led coalition in the area is ignoring the situation.
He said US airstrikes have destroyed over 80 percent of buildings in the city, while water and electricity supply has been cut off to residential areas.
Konashenkov noted that nearly 40,000 people currently remain in Raqqah, which used to be home to over 200,000 residents before the US-led coalition’s offensive.
Moscow’s call for assessing the humanitarian situation in Raqqah comes after Russia has been implementing daily humanitarian pauses in the militant-held Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta to facilitate aid delivery as well as the exit of civilians from the counterterrorism operation zone.
On Saturday, the UN Security Council unanimously voted in favor of a resolution demanding a 30-day truce in Syria “without delay” to allow aid access and medical evacuations.
Eastern Ghouta has witnessed deadly violence over the past days, with foreign-sponsored terrorists there launching mortar attacks on the city in the face of an imminent humiliating defeat.
Source:Press TV
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