It did not elaborate.
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The United States and Russian Federation have persuaded Syria’s government and moderate rebels to extend the country’s ceasefire to the northern city of Aleppo, US officials said.
The Syrian military confirmed the truce but said it would not take effect until 12:01 a.m. Thursday and last for only 48 hours.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced Tuesday that a cessation of hostilities would soon take place in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
The UN’s top political affairs officer Jeffrey Feltman and Stephen O’Brian, its aid chief, told the Security Council that those responsible for the hospital attacks and starvation sieges in rebel-held eastern Aleppo should face trial for war crimes.
He added that observing the truce would also be an “important basis” for resuming upcoming peace talks in Geneva. Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, recently estimated that 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far.
The U.S. says the regime has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in the Aleppo area over the past two weeks.
But the fragile truce rapidly unraveled, he says, especially in Aleppo.
His comments came as part of talks between the USA and Russian Federation over including the city of Aleppo in the partial truce in the country in order to spare civilians from falling victims for the fighting.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said it counted at least 19 dead and 80 wounded from the attacks on government-held areas, while civil defense workers said air strikes on the rebel-held east killed 11 civilians, including a child.
“Attacks directed against Syria’s civilian population can never be justified, and these must stop immediately”, he said in a statement. That led to “frantic” diplomatic efforts that apparently led to Wednesday’s announcement.
Officials said there was an “overall decrease in violence” in the city once the cessation of hostilities went into effect, just after midnight local time on Wednesday.
The UN Security Council will discuss the violence in Aleppo later on Wednesday. “I don’t think Assad is going to benefit from that”, he added.
Once Syria’s largest city and commercial center, he said, Aleppo is being subjected to “systematic destruction” and is increasingly becoming “a shell of what it once was”.
Kerry also stated that the ceasefire was holding in areas of Damascus and Latakia region where he said there had been a “meaningful” drop in violence. Russia, which has been waging an air campaign in Syria for seven months, is urging the U.S.to convince its partners to drop as a precondition for talks their demand for Assad’s ouster, he said.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said there were “extremely worrying” signs IS may be making its own chemical weapons and may have used them already in Syria and Iraq.
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Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov gave no details Wednesday about how many aircraft remained, saying only that it was precisely the number necessary for fighting the Islamic State group and the Syrian al-Qaida affiliate known as the Nusra Front.
