GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations has shared the GPS coordinates of 235 protected sites in the Syrian province of Idlib, including schools and hospitals, with the Russia, Turkey and US-led coalition amid fears of an all-out military assault, a senior UN aid official said on Thursday.
Panos Moumtzis, UN regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, also quoted a Russian official as telling a humanitarian task force in Geneva that “every effort to find a peaceful solution to the problem is being made at the moment”.
The United Nations is working 24/7 to ensure assistance if an estimated 900,000 people flee the rebel-held area of 2.9 million, Moumtzis said. “In no way am I saying we are ready. What is important is that we are doing our maximum to ensure a level of readiness.”
Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg.
