Syria violence spikes as aid groups warn of disaster

BEIRUT - 22 December 2019: A surge in violence Saturday left 12 civilians dead in Syria's last major opposition bastion as aid groups warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if cross-border aid stops reaching the region.

Heightened regime and Russian bombardment on the northwestern province of Idlib since December 16 has already forced tens of thousands of vulnerable people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

The world body has called for "immediate de-escalation" and warned of further mass displacement if the violence continues.

The jihadist-dominated Idlib region hosts some three million people including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.

The Damascus regime has repeatedly vowed to take back the area and bombardment has continued despite a ceasefire announced in August.

Exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation, Russia and China on Friday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended for a year cross-border aid deliveries to four million Syrians, many of them in the Idlib region.

The move, slammed by the United States, raised fears that UN-funded assistance could stop entering opposition-held parts of Syria from January unless an alternative agreement is found.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday described the Russian and Chinese veto as "shameful".

"To Russia and China, who have chosen to make a political statement by opposing this resolution, you have blood on your hands," he said.

Aid group Oxfam said people in need, many of them displaced several times, relied on the deliveries.

"There is no realistic way of reaching hundreds of thousands of these families" except though cross-border operations, a statement said.

Abu Zakour, a 70-year-old living in a camp in northern Idlib, voiced fears for the fate of the displaced if the deliveries were halted.

"Had it not been for the aid, we would have died from hunger," he said.