UN warns of deepening Syria crisis and calls for de-escalation and political action

White Helmets director accuses Al Assad government of deliberately attacking civilians and vital infrastructure

Syrians search for relatives whom they believe were detained in secret cells beneath Sednaya prison near Damascus. EPA

Rescue efforts to find prisoners at Sednaya prison continue. EPA

Israeli soldiers in southern Syria. Reuters

Mohammed Bashir, head of US-listed terrorist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham's Salvation Government, at a press conference in the rebel-held northwestern Syrian city of Idlib in November. AFP

Crowds gathering at Saadallah Al Jabiri Square in Aleppo. AP

Senior insurgent commander Abu Mohammed Al Julani addresses a crowd at Ummayad Mosque in Damascus. Reuters

Members of the Syrian government security forces are herded into a field by gunmen in Homs, Syria. EPA

A hall inside the presidential palace gutted by fire after Syrian rebels took over Damascus. EPA

A Syrian rebel fighter fires rounds as people celebrate in Homs after the city's liberation from the stranglehold of the Assad regime. AFP

People gather to celebrate the Syrian government's fall at a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. AP

People gather around Umayyad Square in Damascus. AFP

Rebel fighters cheer from the back of a pick-up truck at Umayyad Square having stormed into the centre of Damascus, Syria. AFP

Syrian government forces cross the border into Iraq at Al Qaim. Reuters

A multi-barrel rocket launcher fires at regime troops, in the northern outskirts of Syria's west-central city of Hama. AFP

Syrian Kurds flee their homes in the outskirts of Aleppo. AFP

The UN’s envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, has called for an immediate end to the escalating violence in the war-torn country, warning of dire consequences if the crisis deepens further.

Mr Pedersen told the UN Security Council that de-escalation must be paired with a “credible political horizon” to address the aspirations of the Syrian people.

“If we do not see de-escalation and a rapid move to a serious political process, involving the Syrian parties and the key international players, then I fear we will see a deepening of the crisis,” he said on Tuesday.

Fourteen years of conflict have proven there is no military solution to the Syrian crisis, Mr Pedersen said.

The extremist rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham and its allies based in Idlib province last week launched a surprise attack on government troops in neighbouring Aleppo province, seizing the provincial capital and Syria's second city in a lightning offensive.

Syria's army command said its troops were striking “terrorist organisations” in north Hama and Idlib provinces, with air support from Russia, a vital ally of President Bashar Al Assad. It said reinforcements were arriving and reported “fierce battles”, particularly in the north of Hama province.

Addressing the 15-member Security Council, Raed Al Saleh, the director of Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, accused the Syrian government, Russia and Iranian-backed militias of deliberately attacking civilians and vital infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and camps for displaced people in northwest Syria.

“The White Helmets have responded to 275 attacks,” Mr Al Saleh said. “These attacks have killed 100 civilians at least. They have wounded 360 others. These attacks have displaced tens of thousands of residents, most of whom are women and children.”

Mr Saleh also accused the international community of having "utterly failed the Syrian people."

"The Syrian people have appealed to you to take immediate action to end atrocities and ensure peace...however, in recent years, you have not only failed to heed these calls, but, tragically, many of your governments have chosen to forget Syria altogether," he said to the Security Council.

Russia's UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya criticised UN officials for being "unable to summon the courage to call a spade a spade and to condemn these terrorist attacks" against Syria.

Deputy US ambassador Robert Wood refuted the criticism, saying: "the fact that HTS is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and UN does not justify the further atrocities by the Assad regime and its Russian backers."

“For many years, the Syrian government has been engaged in the civil war, backed by Iran, Russia and Hezbollah,” Mr Wood said. “All three of those actors have recently been distracted and weakened by conflicts elsewhere and so it is no surprise that we have seen actors in Syria try to take advantage of that over the last several days.”

Hayat Tahrir has been designated as a terrorist group by the US and UN. “We obviously have concerns about this group,” said Mr Wood. “We will continue to fully defend and protect US personnel and US military positions, which remain essential to ensuring that ISIS can never again resurge in Syria.”

Syria claimed that recent rebel attacks could not have been executed without approval from Turkey and Israel.

“Would you accept this terrorist attack by a terrorist group that was listed by the Security Council against any of your countries or, I guess, any country that's a member of the United Nations?” asked Koussay Aldahhak, Syria's UN representative.

Syria urged the Council to issue a “clear and unequivocal” condemnation of attacks carried out by “an organisation listed as a terrorist entity by the UN, comprising tens of thousands of foreign terrorists”.