UN chief deplores failure to implement UN resolution on Syria
United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday deplored the failure to implement a Security Council resolution that demands cease-fire in Syria.
Reporting to the Security Council on the implementation of Resolution 2401, Guterres said there has been no cessation of hostilities in Syria.
Though conflicts in some areas are diminishing in intensity, violence continues in Eastern Ghouta and beyond -- including in Afrin, parts of Idlib and in Damascus and its suburbs, Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Particularly in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, airstrikes, shelling and ground offensives have intensified after the adoption of the resolution on February 24, and claimed hundreds of civilian lives, the UN chief added.
The resolution demands the enabling of "the safe, unimpeded and sustained" delivery of humanitarian aid and services across Syria for at least 30 days.
"Despite some limited convoy deliveries, the provision of humanitarian aid and services has not been safe, unimpeded or sustained," Guterres said.
On the resolution's demand for medical evacuations of the critically sick and wounded, Guterrest said: "To our knowledge, not one critically sick or wounded person has yet been evacuated."
Guterres reported "egregious violations, indiscriminate attacks, and a failure to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure" despite the resolution's demands for all parties to comply with their obligations under international law and international human rights law.
"I am here to report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2401... But I am keenly aware that I am doing so just as the bloodletting in Syria enters its eighth year," said the secretary-general.
Despite all the difficulties, lack of trust, mutual suspicions and cold calculations, it should still be possible to implement Resolution 2401, he said. "We cannot give up for the sake of the Syrian people."
"I appeal to all parties for the full implementation of Resolution 2401 throughout the whole of Syrian territory. The United Nations is ready to assist in any efforts to make that happen.
"I call on all states with influence to exercise it in support of the efforts of the United Nations and the implementation of the resolution."
He underscored the urgency of seeing medical evacuations, civilian protection, and full, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access as soon as possible.
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234 held in anti-drug operation in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 15 (PTI): The Kerala police on Saturday said as part of its special drive to crack down on individuals suspected of drug trafficking, 234 people were arrested, and varying quantities of several deadly narcotics, including MDMA, were seized.
The State Police Media Centre (SPMC) stated that on March 14, as part of the drive, D-Hunt, authorities inspected 2,362 individuals suspected of drug trafficking and arrested 234 of them.
The operation was carried out across the state to identify and take strict legal action against those involved in the storage and distribution of banned drugs.
Police registered 222 cases related to the possession of various prohibited substances, according to a statement issued by the SPMC.
Additionally, authorities seized 0.0119 kg of MDMA, 6.171 kg of cannabis, and 167 cannabis 'beedis' from those arrested.
Operation D-Hunt is being jointly implemented by the Range-based NDPS Coordination Cell and District Police Chiefs under the leadership of State Anti-Narcotics Task Force Head and ADGP (Law and Order) Manoj Abraham, following the instructions of State Police Chief Dr Sheikh Darvesh Sahib, the statement said.
The SPMC also announced that a 24-hour Anti-Narcotics Control Room (9497927797) has been set up to receive information from the public regarding drug-related activities.
The details of individuals who contact this number will be kept confidential, it added.
Furthermore, the operation will continue in the coming days through sustained surveillance and the creation of a database of individuals regularly involved in drug-related activities and transactions.
