Trapped by fighting

GENEVA: The UN voiced concern yesterday about an escalation in fighting and air strikes in Syria’s Idlib province, where 2.5million civilians have “no place else to go” within their homeland.

Panos Moumtzis, the UN’s regional humanitarian co-ordinator for Syria, called on the major powers to broker a negotiated settlement to end the war and avoid a bloodbath in Idlib.

An aid convoy reached the town of Douma outside Damascus on Sunday, but the Syrian government did not allow UN staff to accompany it, Moumtzis said.