シリアの戦闘再激化、国連総長が停止呼び掛け

【国連ＡＦＰ＝時事】国連（ＵＮ）のアントニオ・グテレス事務総長は２日、シリアにおける暴力の激化に「驚愕（きょうがく）させられる」と語り、戦闘の即時停止を呼び掛けた。ステファン・ドゥジャリク事務総長報道官が、グテレス氏のコメントを伝えた。（写真は国連〈ＵＮ〉のアントニオ・グテレス事務総長）
　グテレス氏は「すべての当事者は、敵対行為から逃れる民間人に安全な通行を許可することを含め、民間人と民間施設を保護するために最善を尽くさなければならない」と強調。「シリア人は１４年近くも紛争に耐えてきた。彼らにはさらなる流血ではなく、平和な未来をもたらす政治的な展望が必要だ」と述べた。
　２０１１年にバッシャール・アサド大統領が民主化を求める抗議運動を弾圧して以来、シリアは内戦状態にある。外国勢力やジハーディスト（イスラム聖戦主義者）が入り乱れて戦闘が続き、５０万人が死亡したと推定されている。
　最近では戦闘はほぼ休止状態にあり、アサド政権が国土の大部分を再び掌握していたが、先週、イスラム武装組織が主導する反政府勢力の連合体が攻勢を開始。シリア軍とその同盟国であるロシアは、反政府勢力の支配地域に対する空爆で応戦している。
　英国に拠点を置くＮＧＯ「シリア人権監視団」によると、今回の戦闘により、少なくとも７２人の民間人を含む４５７人以上が死亡した。
　２日の国連人道問題調整事務所（ＯＣＨＡ）の報告によれば、１１月３０日時点で、北西部イドリブ県およびその東隣のアレッポ県北部で４万８５００人以上が避難民となっており、その半数以上を子どもが占めている。ＯＣＨＡは、状況は極めて流動的だとしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/12/03-19:31）

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he was alarmed by the escalation of violence in Syria and called for an immediate end to fighting that his organization says has displaced nearly 50,000 people.
All parties must do their utmost to protect civilians and civilian objects, including by allowing safe passage to civilians who are fleeing hostilities, Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
Syrians have endured the conflict for nearly 14 years. They deserve a political horizon that will deliver a peaceful future, not more bloodshed, he added.
Syria has been at war since President Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2011, with subsequent fighting that has involved foreign powers and jihadists leaving an estimated half a million people dead.
The conflict had been mostly dormant, with Assad back in control of much of the country until last week, when a rebel alliance led by Islamist armed groups began its offensive.
Syria's military and its ally Russia have responded with deadly air raids on areas under rebel control.
The fighting has killed more than 457 people, including at least 72 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
As of November 30, more than 48,500 people had been displaced in Idlib and northern Aleppo, more than half of them children, the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said on Monday, adding that the situation was highly fluid.
Tens of thousands of people on the move; critical services interrupted; women, men and children fearing for safety, OCHA chief Tom Fletcher said on X, describing the situation as worrying.
Syrians have already endured over 13 years of suffering. All sides must do more to protect civilians.
The number of displaced was a steep increase from the 14,000 people reported on 28 November.
And according to Dujarric, UN peacekeeping operations in the country have been largely suspended across Aleppo, Idlib and Hama due to security concerns.
This has led to severe disruption in people's ability to access life-saving assistance, he said, adding that the United Nations remained committed to delivering humanitarian aid.
Dujarric warned that the presence of unburied bodies and lack of drinking water in Syria threatens public health and said that damage to Aleppo's university hospital had left hundreds of patients without care.
Syria is also already one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, with 16.7 million human beings in need of assistance and over seven million people internally displaced, he said.
Israel's stepped-up offensive against Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon since September had also had an effect on the situation, he said.
More than half a million people have also fled from Lebanon to Syria in recent weeks, and winter conditions will only make the needs in the coming weeks even more acute.