The U.S. and Russian Federation say the Syrian cessation of hostilities that began Monday has largely held and should be extended for another 48 hours despite the United Nations complaining that aid has not yet crossed into Syria from Lebanon, a key part of the deal.
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“Politics is coming in the way of the delivery”, the source said.
However, a prominent opposition politician, George Sabra, said the many violations which marked a previous truce had undermined confidence in this one and it was too early to talk about a resumption of peace talks that were abandoned in April. Underscoring the complexity of the new arrangement, the deal was not made public in its entirety even as it came into effect.
Under the deal, which was brokered by the U.S. and Russian Federation on Friday, Washington and Moscow are aiming for reduced violence over seven consecutive days, before they move to the next stage of coordinating military strikes against Daesh (ISIL) and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the group formerly known as al-Nusra Front that changed its name after cutting ties with al-Qaeda in July.
“As part of the conversation they agreed to extend the cessation for another 48 hours”, he said. The Syrian government controls the highway but is expected to withdraw to allow aid agencies access.
The cease-fire, which went into effect on Monday, will in theory allow humanitarian aid to get through to besieged areas like Aleppo, a city where civilians have lived with daily bombardments and a dire lack of food and medical supplies.
ABC reported that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the United States and Russian Federation to do more to guarantee humanitarian aid to besieged areas. The Turkish government sent a couple of aid trucks a short distance into Syria, but there’s been nothing where it’s most needed in Aleppo. Details of who is to distribute the aid were still being worked out.
UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon says disagreements between warring sides and safety concerns are causing the delays.
Eid holiday Mr de Mistura said some people had used the argument that offices were closed during this week’s Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, and the Syrian government had been “a little bit slow” during Eid, but he would not accept that as a valid reason.
Syrian forces, with Russian air support, closed the road in July, thereby completing the encirclement of rebel districts with a population of as many as 300,000.
Besieged civilians were still waiting desperately for relief in Syria’s war-battered second city of Aleppo, with 20 United Nations aid trucks stranded on the Turkish border over security concerns. There is relative relief.
Syrian state media broadcast footage of the tourism and health ministers touring neighborhoods on the southern edge of Aleppo that were recently recaptured by the government from rebel groups.
And on both sides of this divided city, the playgrounds were full of kids just being kids.
Russian Federation said the Castello Road – the key supply route into Aleppo – had come under mortar fire, threatening the withdrawal of Syrian troops which had been set to begin at 0600 GMT on Thursday, September 15.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, there have been no deaths reported in the first 48 hours of the truce.
“The violations are negligible”.
Meanwhile, Pentagon lawyers and strategists were hammering out details about how American and Russian military forces will go about jointly targeting terrorist groups in Syria should the cease-fire agreement hold.
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Dmitry Peskov said: “The ceasefire is quite fragile and the key task now is to wait until the moderate opposition stands aside from terrorist groups”. Capturing the opposition-held area of Syria’s biggest city would be a major boost for President Bashar al-Assad’s war effort.
