UN chief's aide rips Security Council over Idlib

WASHINGTON

A top aide to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres tore into the Security Council on Tuesday, lambasting it for a history of inaction in Syria and questioning what it will do to prevent another catastrophe in the country's northwest.

"There is no question today about whether you, Members of this Council, are aware of the tragic humanitarian situation in Syria -- you clearly are," Ursula Mueller, Guterres' humanitarian affairs official, told the council.

"The question today is what you will do to protect civilians in Idlib -- the latest example of an entirely known, predictable, and preventable humanitarian disaster unfolding before our eyes," she added.

Some 1.5 million people currently reside in Idlib, roughly half of whom have been displaced from other parts of the country.

Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be expressly prohibited.

The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the ceasefire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.

Four civilians were killed in a regime attack in the opposition-held province, Syria's White Helmets civil defense agency said Tuesday, one day after it reported that 17 civilians were killed in separate attacks.

More than 160 civilians have been killed and roughly 270,000 others have been displaced this month alone due to heavy shelling and aerial bombardment between the regime and opposition forces, according to the UN.

Amid the ongoing attacks, Mueller fumed at the Security Council during Tuesday's session.

"Can't this Council take any concrete action when attacks on schools and hospitals have become a war tactic that no longer sparks outrage?

"Is there nothing to be said or done when indiscriminate barrel bombs are dropped in civilian areas?" she said. "Millions of battered and beleaguered children, women and men cannot wait for another Geneva round to succeed. They need protection -- and your action -- now."

*Betul Yuruk contributed to this report from the United Nations