United Nations officials said they were awaiting word from Russian Federation and Syrian combatants on both sides that security and monitoring are in place to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid into rebel-held parts of Aleppo city.
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SANA says the shelling violates the cease-fire brokered by the USA and Russian Federation that went into effect Monday.
The deal is “simple”, said Mr. Egeland: “Well-fed grown men, please stop putting political, bureaucratic, and procedural roadblocks [before] fearless humanitarian workers that are willing to go to serve women, children, wounded civilians in besieged and crossfire areas”.
“This ceasefire was brought about by outside powers – it was brought about by the United States and Russian Federation, and then basically the warring parties here were told that they are to abide by the ceasefire, so it’s very, very fragile”, Pleitgen said. “The humanitarian aid, the most substantial change for the people of Syria other than the cessation of bombings, has run into problems”, United Nations special envoy for the Syria crisis Staffan de Mistura told journalists at the UN’s headquarters in Geneva today.
The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said one girl was killed when missiles fired by rebels fell a northern village in the southern province of Quneitra. “It is particularly regrettable”.
Residents there said they were grateful for the reprieve from the fighting, which allowed children to leave their homes to gather firewood for the first time in a while.
Earlier, activists said the ceasefire was still holding despite some violations.
But the monitor recorded a number of incidents of shelling by various rebel factions and of shelling and air strikes by pro-government forces around the country.
The government blamed the armed opposition of violating the cease-fire in different parts of Syria, including a rocket attack on the government-held side of Aleppo that damaged a church. Among them, 160 were children, according to estimates by the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a London-based watchdog group. Meanwhile, the Syrian defense ministry has stated that while government forces were observing the truce, “US-controlled” units have stepped up their shelling of civilian residential areas.
The United Nations was also ready to send aid by the end of the week to besieged areas close to Damascus and Homs, including Moademiya, al-Waer, Talbish, and Douma, according to Jan Egeland, the UN special adviser on humanitarian affairs.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said Moscow was using its influence on the Syrian regime to ensure that government forces abide by the ceasefire.
“Our appeal is the following – it’s a simple one”, Mr Egeland said.
“It is up to whether or not Vladimir Putin decides that it’s time to do what the Russians can do to bring this conflict into a period where there can be the beginning of political discussions, a hoped-for protective zone for people who are under relentless assault from the air, and a commitment to going after the terrorist groups that pose a threat to everyone”.
They “have not been received”, he added.
Fighting broke out between government forces and opposition rebels in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Friday morning.
Nevertheless, the ceasefire appears to have offered a respite in the civil war that’s killed an estimated 430,000 people since 2011 and touched off an global refugee crisis.
“No aid has arrived in Aleppo”.
The spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, told the Interfax news service that rebel troops continued to fire artillery at government forces and had not separated themselves from units loyal to a former affiliate of Al Qaeda that both the United States and Russian Federation have deemed a terrorist organization.
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SANA also reported violations in the northwestern village of Foua, saying insurgent sniper fire wounded a Syrian boy. He says the USA has failed to take measures to ensure the opposition’s compliance with the agreement.
