During a press conference on Wednesday, de Mistura called on the UN Security Council, the United States and Russian Federation to revive the truce and hold a meeting for Syria support groups.
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Mohammed Alloush, the political leader of the country’s Saudi-backed rebel group Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), and one of the leading opposition negotiators at February’s peace talks in Geneva, blamed the attack on President Bashar al Assad.
“In the last 48 hours we have had an average of one Syrian killed every 25 minutes, and one Syrian wounded every 13 minutes”, the special told the press after briefing the United Nations headquarters in NY on the just-concluded intra-Syrian peace talks.
De Mistura also called for a new International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting at the ministerial level from major and regional powers to sustain a troubled cessation of hostilities, the political transition process, and humanitarian efforts.
“I can describe this particular round as useful and productive”, Ja’afari added, speaking of the round at which his opposition was not present.
But the United Nations mediator declined to discuss the most daunting obstacle at the talks, which is the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
When asked about the role of President Assad in the talks, he said: “We didn’t get into names or people, who is doing what, but about how to change the current governance”.
The envoy said he meant to call a new round of talks to take place in May.
He said the talks will only be meaningful when the “level of cessation of hostilities is brought back to the levels seen in February and March”.
“In the last 48 hours, there was an average of one Syrian killed every 25 minutes and one Syrian wounded every 13 minutes”, he noted.
There has been fighting between Turkey-backed insurgents and the Kurdish YPG militia north of Aleppo, which is thought to have struck civilian areas, Reuters reports.
Another three civilians – two women and a child – were killed in government artillery shelling on another eastern neighborhood, they said. He feared the death toll may rise further.
The talks are focused on creating a transitional government capable of leading Syria out of a brutal civil war that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.
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Wednesday is the last scheduled day of the UN-led negotiating round, but de Mistura hopes to reconvene both delegations some time in May.
