Swiss call for humanitarian access in war-torn Syria
About a million civilians have been displaced since December inside Syria near the Turkish border in desperate winter conditions.
Keystone/Erdem Sahin
Switzerland has again expressed concern about the escalating military conflict in north-eastern Syria, calling on the warring parties to return to the negotiating table.
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swissinfo.ch and Reuters/ug
In a statement published on Friday, the Swiss foreign ministryExternal link urged all parties to respect international humanitarian law, saying the fighting in Idlib province has had serious consequences for the civilian population.
The ministry also wants the warring parties to grant humanitarian organisation permanent access to the population in need.
Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Slovenia launched a first appeal during the current session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva, on Thursday.
At least 134 civilians have been killed as fighting between Russian-back Syrian government troops and the Turkish army escalated at the beginning of February.
The UN Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on Friday in New York to discuss the escalating conflict in the war-torn region, the last major opposition stronghold in the conflict-torn country.
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