Russian troops have deployed along a main road leading into rebel-held areas of the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo ahead of the possible arrival of aid convoys, a local activist said. Aid is expected to enter rebel-held Aleppo later, he said.
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Aid for Aleppo was stuck on the Turkish border on the fifth day of a fragile ceasefire on Friday with rival factions arguing over how the supplies are to be delivered and violence increasingly undermining the truce.
In a telephone call to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov the USA secretary of state John Kerry made it plain that America would not conduct joint operations with Russia against ISIL and other extremists unless the Syrian regime allowed humanitarian aid into the cities suffering under long-term siege.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov earlier told the BBC his country was confident that Syria would honour the ceasefire agreement but had “more doubts about the opposition”.
The clashes in Damascus appear to be another violation of the ceasefire which began on Monday evening.
BEIRUT (AP) – Aid convoys for Syria’s war-ravaged city of Aleppo were delayed Friday for the fourth day as the United States and Russian Federation, sponsors of a Syria cease-fire deal, traded accusations over who was to blame.
The Kremlin said on Friday it was using its influence to try to ensure the Syrian army fully implemented the ceasefire agreement and that it hoped the United States would use its own influence with rebel groups too.
At the United Nations, the USA and Russian Federation called for a meeting of the Security Council to discuss the situation in Syria.
It was not immediately clear how many casualties, if any, were caused by the flare up of fighting on Friday in Jobar, or which side was really to blame for pushing into the other’s territory with the cease-fire in place. The council was to hold closed consultations later Friday. The group falls under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, which has received USA support. Russian Federation intervened with its air force on the side of President Bashar Assad’s government previous year, turning the tide of the war in his favor.
Aleppo-based activist Bahaa al-Halaby denies that government troops withdrew from Castello road.
His colleague, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said the American special forces would provide the same training, advice and other assistance that the United States has been giving to other Syrian opposition groups – such as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – which are fighting ISIL in northern Syria.
A main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said it rejects the presence of a “Russian occupation” force on the road and that United Nations peacekeepers should run the operation.
Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian government forces that were stationed there had been replaced by Russian troops. State media, in turn, accused insurgents of launching an attack, drawing retaliation by government forces.
Also on Friday, foreign-backed extremists shelled two neighborhoods in the eastern flank of the Syrian capital Damascus, in violation of the truce in the country.
The Observatory reported the first three deaths since the it went into effect.
The Syrian National Coalition, a consortium of opposition groups, said in a statement on Thursday that the U.N.’s decision to consult the government on aid to besieged areas “renders the cease-fire devoid of meaning”. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Laerke said the trucks are in a “special customs zone” on the Turkish border.
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“We are working on it”, he said.
