The UN Security Council will meet Tuesday (June 18th) in open session to discuss Syria where intense fighting is playing out between pro-government and extremist forces, AFP reported.
Such a meeting was not on the council agenda for the day but it was requested by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait, non-permanent council members overseeing UN humanitarian operations in Syria, a diplomat said.
The US asked that political aspects of the conflict also be addressed at the meeting. Speeches by the UN under-secretaries general for political and for humanitarian affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo and Mark Lowcock, are expected, another diplomat said.
In May, the council held several meetings on Syria and the situation in the opposition-held province of Idlib. The UN feared a humanitarian catastrophe if fighting in the north-west region continued.
In recent weeks, Idlib has been the target of nearly daily bombardments by the Syrian regime and its ally Russia.
