UN to host next round of Syria talks in Geneva

The next round of talks aimed at easing the violence in war-torn Syria will be held at the UN's European headquarters in Geneva early next year, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.

"The talks will take place in Geneva, but we don't have the exact date," UN spokesman Rheal LeBlanc told AFP.

Last week, the UN Security Council gave its unanimous support to a plan to end Syria's brutal civil war by summoning rebels and the regime to the negotiating table.

With crucial backing from the United States and Russia, the plan aims to install a ceasefire in Syria, possibly in January, when talks could also begin.

The UN special envoy on the near-five year conflict, Staffan de Mistura, said last week he would send out invitations to talks next month.

Monitor says Russian Syria strikes kill more than 2,100
Beirut (AFP) Dec 22, 2015 - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday that Russian air strikes have killed 2,132 people in Syria, a third of them civilians, since they began on September 30.

Of those killed, 598 were fighters from the Islamic State group and another 824 from Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda, and other rebel groups.

There were a further 710 civilians killed, of whom 161 were children and 104 women.

The Britain-based Observatory has an extensive network of informants inside Syria. It bases its tallies on Russian-caused casualties by the type of aircraft flown and the munitions used.