All actors in Syria must live up to pledges: UN chief

By Hasan Esen

VIENNA (AA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday urged all actors in Syria to follow through on the pledges they made earlier to the Syrian people.

All sides, including the Assad regime and armed opposition groups in Syria, continue to attack hospitals, schools, water sources, and infrastructure, Ban told a joint press conference alongside Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz.

“I urge the Syrian regime, armed Syrian opposition groups, and members of the international [U.S.-led] coalition to follow through on their promises. So we can meet the requirements of humanitarian law,” he said.

He added that the UN’s special representative in Syria has engaged in very difficult diplomacy for six years but success has proved elusive.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures.