UN chief Syrians to renew commitment to ceasefire

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on all sides in Syrian war to renew their commitment to a ceasefire after a wave of air strikes and shelling killed dozens in less than 24 hours.

According to the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief condemned airstrikes against the Al Quds hospital in Aleppo that caused numerous casualties and the recent indiscriminate shelling by government forces and opposition groups "as well as terrorist tactics by extremists."

The secretary-general also urged Russia and the United States, as co-chairs of the group of global and regional powers and organizations trying to end the five-year Syria conflict, "to exert pressure on all concerned to stop the fighting and to ensure credible investigations of incidents such as the attack on Al Quds hospital," Dujarric said.

More than 270,000 people have been killed in Syria and millions forced from their homes since the conflict erupted in 2011.

Source: MENA