UN chief calls for immediate cease-fire in Syria's northwest

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief called Friday for an immediate cease-fire in Syria’s war-torn Idlib province “to avoid an uncontrollable escalation” and urged donors to contribute an additional $500 million to help hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the violence.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “the unfolding crisis in northwest Syria and the terrible human toll on civilians” is now advancing into areas with the highest concentrations of people — many of them displaced — “and threatening to strangle humanitarian lifelines.”

Guterres said in a statement read to reporters that the U.N. estimates 2.8 million people in northwest Syria, the last rebel stronghold, require humanitarian assistance. This includes nearly 900,000 people — the vast majority women and children — who fled the latest Syrian offensive “under the most tragic circumstances” including young children freezing to death, he said.

For almost a year, Guterres said, Syrian ground offensives supported by Russian airstrikes have targeted what was supposed to be a de-escalation zone in Idlib, and this month Turkish and Syrian forces have clashed repeatedly.

“All of this means that in addition to a dramatic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, we face the risk of an ever-more serious confrontation with increasingly unpredictable consequences,” the secretary-general warned.

Guterres said his repeated calls for a cease-fire have been conveyed “publicly and directly to key actors.”

“The message is clear: There is no military solution to the Syria crisis. The only possible solution remains political,” he said. “This man-made humanitarian nightmare for the long-suffering people of Syria must stop. It must stop now.”

Guterres said earlier...