UN calls for pause, sparing civilians in Syria's Raqqa

GENEVA – The United Nations called on Thursday for a humanitarian pause to allow an estimated 20,000 trapped civilians to escape the Syrian city of Raqqa, and urged the US-led coalition to rein in air strikes that have caused casualties.

"Boats on the Euphrates must not be attacked, people who come out cannot risk air raids when they come out," Jan Egeland, humanitarian adviser on Syria, told reporters in Geneva.

"So now is the time to think of possibilities, pauses or otherwise that might facilitate the escape of civilians, knowing that Islamic State fighters are doing their absolute best to keep them in place," he said.