Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock - Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria, 16 December 2020
Format
As delivered
Thank you very much indeed, Mr. President.
I will focus today on five areas: first, COVID-19; second, the humanitarian impact of the economic crisis; third, protection of civilians; fourth, humanitarian access; and lastly, our assessment of the humanitarian situation as 2020 draws to a close.
Mr. President,
The number of reported COVID-19 cases in Syria continues to rise, though limited testing in all parts of the country makes the extent of the outbreak impossible to assess with any certainty.
intelligence showing isis wants to strike shopping malls where americans may shop in jordan. the u.s. embassy in amman just put out the following warning quote, the u.s. embassy has received information of a potential threat against high-end malls in amman. the threat is judged to be credible, although the possible time frame and type of threat are unknown. of course, this comes after the threat issued by al shabab, the somali al qaeda affiliate, to attack malls in america, something that the fbi says they have no credible intelligence to support. jordan is a softer target, closer to syria for isis fighters to infiltrate. the u.s. has stepped up air strikes in and around al hassakeh in syria, close to where those christians were taken hostage on monday. a syrian christian leader says the number of hostages may be closer to 350. back to iraq now. i reported a moment ago that yet again we re sending a bunch of weapons into iraq. what more do we know on that? well general john allen w
must be killed. others enslaved. lands must be taken, a caliphate established where. they must move to the land of the caliph. the army and infyiyinfydels will be drawn to the battlefields where there will be a bloody war and the end of the world will be initiated. this will happen. this must happen. the army of the islamic state hopes to be a part of it, an integ integral part. graham wood, author of the article in the atlantic. he lays out what isis wants and how they plan to get and gives thought to what might work to stop it and what tactics would certainly make it more powerful. he writes, much of what the group does looks nonsensical expect in the light of a sincere, carefully considered commitment to returning civilization to a seventh century legal environment. and ultimately, bringing about the apocalypse. graham wood has sat face-to-face with isis recruiters and supporters. for this article he spoke to professors and scholars from islam, from around the world, to