Displaced people who fled the clashes receive aid in northern Mosul, Iraq, yesterday.
Qatar has welcomed US President Donald Trump's call to create safe zones in Syria.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Foreign Ministry Media Office Director, Ambassador H E Ahmad bin Saeed Al Rumaihi, said the Ministry welcomes the US intention to sign an executive decision to draw a plan for the establishment of safe zones in Syria.
The ambassador reiterated the need to provide safe havens in Syria and impose no-fly zones that ensure the safety of civilians in line with international resolutions, and protect the Syrian people from the machine of destruction and mass displacement.
On Astana talks that concluded recently, the ambassador expressed hope that the outcomes will help in strengthening the ceasefire, stressing the need to establish an effective and practical monitoring mechanism to pave the way for Geneva talks.
In an interview with ABC, Trump had said that he "will absolutely do safe zones in Syria" for refugees fleeing violence in the war-torn country.
"It’s a disaster, what’s happening there," Trump said.
He criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel's immigration policies. Trump said Merkel made a "catastrophic mistake" by welcoming an influx of immigrants into her country but maintained that he has "great respect" for the German leader. Trump stated during his presidential campaign a plan to start setting up "safe zones" for refugees in Syria, a step that Barack Obama long resisted, fearing the potential for being pulled deeper into the conflict and the threat of clashes between US and Russian warplanes over Syria.
Meanwhile, Turkey said that it will wait to see the outcome of Trump's vow to establish safe zones in Syria.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu said that his country has always been an advocate of the move.
"We have seen the US president's request for conducting a study. What's important is the results of this study and what kind of recommendation will come out," Muftuoglu said.
"Setting up of safe zones is something Turkey has advocated from the start. The best example is in Jarablus," he said, referring to a town near the Turkish border with Syria that was freed from ISIS by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in August, Qatar News Agency reported.
Meanwhile, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said yesterday Ankara will not allow anyone to overshadow the efforts deployed to reach a permanent solution in Syria following Astana peace talks.
“The meeting in Astana was not an alternative of a UN-brokered Geneva peace talk, rather a complementary one,” the official Huseyin Muftuoglu said.
