Catastrophe in Syria: More than 11 million people displaced in less than 5 years

Syria told UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura that the fight against "terrorism" is key to ending the conflict in the country, which has entered its fifth year, Syrian state news agency SANA reported, according to the Patria news agency.

De Mistura arrived in Damascus earlier on Thursday and met with Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. The Syrian official "confirmed that the fight against terrorism is the main priority" for Damascus, SANA reported.

The UN envoy is scheduled to meet President Bashar al-Assad on Friday, who claims that the crisis in his country "cannot be resolved without defeating terrorism," referring to the rebellion aimed at his overthrow.

Since the uprising in 2011, at least 250,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria. More than half of the pre-war population of 22.4 million inhabitants have fled or been displaced.