UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is concerned about the safety of more than 4 million civilians in northwest Syria following reports of weekend bombardments, his spokesman said on Monday.
Between Friday and Sunday, artillery shelling impacted 11 communities in Hama, northern Aleppo, and Idlib governorates, while airstrikes reportedly affected three communities in southern Idlib and northern Hama governorates, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman.
Of the nearly 1 million people in northwest Syria who fled their homes between December and early March, some 840,000 of them reportedly are still displaced in the northern parts of Idlib Governorate and in northern Aleppo Governorate, he said. The overwhelming majority of them are women and children.
"We continue to urge all parties, and those with influence over the parties, to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law," Dujarric told correspondents in a regular briefing, in which he gave an update on the pandemic in the country.
"Humanitarian colleagues there report 15 new COVID-19 cases have now been confirmed by the government, bringing the number of cases identified by authorities to 219, including 83 recoveries and seven deaths," he said.
"The UN remains concerned by the economic impact of the pandemic on millions of women, children and men across Syria, whose health care system has been decimated by almost a decade of war," the spokesman said.
Asked if the number of COVID-19 cases seemed low for a country of about 17 million people, the spokesman said, "In parts of Syria where security is an issue -- that are in conflict -- I think it would not be surprising if we had under-reporting of cases given the impact of the conflict in Syria on the health care system." Enditem
