As yet, however, there has been no progress on gaining access for humanitarian supplies.
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However, de Mistura said the Syrian government had not provided the necessary “facilitation letters”, or permits, to allow for convoys to reach opposition areas, disappointing even Russian Federation, the Syrian president key backer.
The U.S. military will have to shift surveillance aircraft from other regions and increase the number of intelligence analysts to coordinate attacks with Russian Federation under the Syria cease-fire deal partly in order to target militants the U.S. has largely spared, senior officials say. He said aid for rebel-held eastern Aleppo is a top priority, and that a key concern about the overall cease-fire is whether sporadic “incidents” snowball to threaten the deal.
The Syrian government has not provided needed “facilitation letters”, or permits, to allow for the start of the convoys, de Mistura said.
Modar Shekho, a 28-year old nurse, said residents of rebel-held Aleppo don’t want food aid, but an end to a government siege of the area, where some 250,000 people still reside.
We haven’t seen the humanitarian access yet so we’re still continuing to assess this, talking to the Russians … But despite the problems, the envoy told reporters that the Russian-American agreement “is and remains a potential game-changer” and has produced a reduction of violence, adding that “by and large it is holding and is, in fact, substantial”. “It is particularly regrettable”. If this works, the two have reportedly agreed to move forward with fighting terrorist groups such as self-declared Islamic state militants and Jabhat Fateh ash-Sham, formerly known as Al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, even though the extremist group is one of the most potent anti-Assad forces.
“We have spent much of today pressing the Russians and, through the Russians, pressing the regime”.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense on Thursday said it began a live public webcast from cameras on the ground and on a drone in Aleppo to monitor the cease-fire.
The ceasefire deal calls for the demilitarization of the key Castello Road into the city, and Russian Federation said on Thursday afternoon that Syrian armed forces were “fulfilling their obligations and have started a gradual withdrawal” from the route.
Damascus accused the Opposition of a series of violations, with its ally Moscow saying Syrian government forces were fully respecting the truce but that rebels had violated it 23 times.
He said that the attack could threaten the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the area, which is set to begin at 0600 GMT on Thursday.
Elsehwere in the same province, an airstrike Thursday on the IS-held town of Mayadeen killed at least four people and wounded dozens, said opposition activists and Deir el-Zour 24, an activist collective. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that no deaths resulting from violence had been reported during the first 48 hours of the ceasefire. It is unclear whether the strike was carried out by the Russians, the Syrian Air Force or the USA -led coalition.
United Nations officials said they are still awaiting “a green light” to move.
“Our appeal is the following – it’s a simple one”, Mr Egeland said.
“Can well-fed grown men please stop putting political, bureaucratic and procedural road blocks for courageous humanitarian workers that are willing to go to serve women, children, wounded civilians in besieged and crossfire areas?”
“If they do that, we’re willing and able to go to all these places in the next few days – and we are very hopeful that we will indeed be able to do so”, he added. He visited an area that was the scene of intense shelling just before the ceasefire went into effect, where buildings had been reduced to rubble.
The Syrian civil war started as a largely unarmed uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, but quickly developed into a full-on armed conflict.
“No aid has arrived in Aleppo”. “There is fear because the regime exploits every opportunity”, says Malahefji.
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He vowed again on Monday to win back the entire country, which has been splintered into areas controlled by the state, an array of rebel factions, the Islamic State group, and the Kurdish YPG militia. It also said three shells were fired at the government-held southern village of Hadar.
