Hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk in Afrin: UN

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday warned about the situation of civilians in the city of Afrin in Syrian Kurdistan, calling on all sides to take “feasible precautions” to avoid loss of civilian lives.

In an official statement, Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani expressed concern for civilian deaths and injuries due to ongoing airstrikes and ground-based attacks on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin.

Shamdasani added that “hundreds of thousands of civilians [in Afrin] are at risk, including those recently displaced from other areas captured by” the Turkish army and Free Syrian Army militias.

Civilians fleeing the Kurdish-controlled areas embark on a treacherous path, risking shelling and explosive hazards, only to reach checkpoints manned by Syrian government-backed armed groups, the statement noted.

The UN report warned about the humanitarian situation in Afrin, stating that there is “tremendous pressure on Afrin hospital—the only medical facility equipped for major operations—which is struggling to cope with the influx of injured people.”

According to the statement, “civilians on the ground have expressed serious worries to us regarding their safety, including as a result of fighters placing rocket launchers in residential areas.”

“We are deeply concerned about the high risk of civilians—who are effectively trapped—being killed, injured, besieged, used as human shields or displaced as a result of the fighting,” the statement read.

The UN urged conflicting parties to “take all feasible precautions to avoid loss of civilian lives, and where there have been reports of civilian casualties, these must be promptly and effectively investigated.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany