UN envoy: Brussels attacks remind us ‘no time to lose’ for peace in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The UN’s Syria envoy warned that Tuesday’s deadly bombings in Brussels showed there was “no time to lose” in securing peace in war-torn Syria, whose repercussions have been resonating across Europe and the world.

Expressing “horror and outrage ”Staffam de Mistura told reporters in Geneva that “We need to extinguish the fire of war in Syria."

He said the Brussels “tragedy” was a reminder that “we have no time to lose," Staffan de Mistura, AFP quoted him as saying.

"To fight terrorism, the best formula is to find a solution for political transition in Syria," he said.

Two explosions at Brussels airport and another at a metro station left some 35 dead and 250 wounded, plunging the Belgian capital into a lockdown.

Two brothers identified as Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui have been identified as the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks, while police were on a manhunt for a third accomplice.

Peace talks over Syria are in their second week and were successfully restarted on March 14, after failing to get off the ground in early February, when the US and Russia successfully brokered a ceasefire which went into effect on February 27 and has largely held until the present.

A "cessation of hostilities" was declared in areas of western Syria so aid could reach civilians trapped in besieged regions across the country.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday that at least 530 people were reportedly killed in areas where government and opposition forces had declared a truce.

Since its start six years ago last week the Syrian war has killed more than 250,000 people and made 11 million homeless.

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