UN Envoy: Military Escalation in Syria ‘Dangerous’

UNITED NATIONS (KI) – The UN special envoy for Syria has warned that the current military escalation in Syria is dangerous for civilians and regional stability, and he urged Turkey and Kurdish-led militants in the north to de-escalate immediately and restore the relative calm that has prevailed for the last three years.
Geir Pedersen told the Security Council that the UN’s call for maximum restraint and de-escalation also applies to other areas in Syria. He pointed to the upsurge in truce violations in the last militant-held stronghold in northwest Idlib, airstrikes by the Zionist regime in Damascus, Homs, Hama and Latakia, as well as reported attacks on the Syria-Iraq border and security incidents and fresh military clashes in the south.
The al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, the most powerful militant group in Idlib, reportedly attacked government forces and government-controlled areas with civilian casualties, he added.
But Pedersen said his major concern now is the slow increase in mutual strikes between the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force in Syria, and Turkey and armed opposition groups across northern Syria, with violence spilling into Turkish territory.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to order a land invasion of northern Syria targeting Kurdish militants following a Nov. 3, explosion in Istanbul that killed six people and wounded dozens, and the government has launched a barrage of airstrikes on suspected militant targets in northern Syria and Iraq in retaliation.
The Kurdish groups have denied involvement in the bombing. But Pedersen cited reports of SDF attacks on Turkish forces including inside Turkish territory.
The UN envoy said he came to New York to warn the Security Council of “the dangers of military escalation” taking place and of his fear of what a major military operation would mean for Syrian civilian and for wider regional security.
“And I equally fear a scenario where the situation escalates in part because there is today no serious effort to resolve the conflict politically,” Pedersen said.
He expressed concern that the committee comprising government, opposition and civil society representatives that is supposed to revise Syria’s constitution has not met for six months and reiterated his call for a meeting in Geneva in January.