ICRC Says Sees No Signs of Systematic Fragmentation of Syria

GENEVA (Sputnik) - Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said on Wednesday that he saw no signs of systematic balkanization in Syria with forced displacements and sectarian fragmentation, but expressed a concern over the new borders being established between zones of control within the war-torn republic.

"I think it's certainly premature at the present moment to think that we have what some have called balkanization of Syria. We don't see it systematically happening," Maurer said.

The official pointed out that the ICRC was concerned over mass displacements in Syria but noted that it was necessary to understand how voluntary they were.

Maurer said that the borders between various zones of control may become destabilized and turn into new front lines.

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"A dangerous situation is when de facto zones of influence that we see… at the present moment are not anymore stable and the zones of influence become suddenly front lines of combats and conflicts. That is the possible concern," the ICRC president said.

He expressed a hope that the major actors involved in the Syrian conflict would come to a kind of consensus, which may be used to put an end to the war.

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Syria has been engulfed in a war for some seven years with the government forces fighting against numerous terror and militant groups.