The United Nations is phasing out its monitoring mission inside Syria amidst unrelenting violence between government and rebel forces. Saying both sides have “chosen the path of war,” a top U.N. peacekeeping official said the last of the remaining monitors inside Syria will pull out by a week from today. The United Nations, meanwhile, has confirmed veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi will take over as international mediator, replacing Kofi Annan, who resigned two weeks ago. On Thursday, U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said up to 2.5 million people affected by the Syrian conflict are in need of aid.

Valerie Amos: “Over a million people have been uprooted and face destitution. Perhaps a million more have urgent humanitarian needs due to the widening impact of the crisis on the economy and on people’s livelihoods. Back in March, we estimated that a million people were in need of help. Now as many as 2.5 million are in need of assistance, and we are working to update our plans and our funding requirements.”