UN to move half of its foreign staff out of Syria after shells land near hotel

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations will move about half of its 100 foreign staff members out of Syria after a number of mortar shells fell near their hotel in Damascus, damaging the building and a U.N. vehicle, the United Nations said on Monday.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said another 800 local U.N. staff had been asked to work from home until further notice.

"The United Nations Security Management Team has assessed the situation and decided to temporarily reduce the presence of international staff in Damascus due to security conditions," Nesirky said.

Syrian rebels lobbed mortar rounds into central Damascus on Monday, killing at least two people and drawing a fierce army response as bombardments shook the capital. [...]

[...] The United Nations says more than 70,000 people have been killed and nearly 1.2 million have fled the violence.

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