Humanitarian crisis in NW Syria reaches "horrifying" level: UN

The humanitarian crisis in northwest Syria has reached a horrifying new level with 900,000 people displaced since Dec. 1, a UN emergency relief coordinator said Monday.

In a statement, UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock underscored the severity of the Syrian humanitarian situation and noted the vast majority of the freshly displaced are women and children.

He said the displaced Syrians are traumatized and forced to sleep outside in freezing temperatures because camps are full, and that indiscriminate violence has hit schools, mosques, markets, health facilities and residential areas.

"There are now reports that settlements for displaced people are being hit, resulting in deaths, injuries and further displacement," the undersecretary-general said, adding that the relief operation across the border from Turkey is overwhelmed.

Lowcock urged the Syrian parties to observe ceasefire and called on the UN Security Council to act to "put a collective stake in humanity" for the war-torn country.

(XINHUA)