Ban said the United Nations hopes to take advantage of the cease-fire deal reached over the weekend after marathon negotiations between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to “immediately deliver vital humanitarian assistance to Aleppo and other besieged and hard-to-reach locations”.
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“No, to coordinate our activities against ISIL [Daesh] and Nusra”, Kerry told NPR radio station when asked if Washington and Moscow will coordinate all military activities in Syria.
Just hours before the first of the rolling, 48-hour ceasefires was due to run out at sunset, Russia, which brokered the truce with the United States, called for it to be extended for another two days.
If the ceasefire holds for seven days, Russian Federation and the U.S. will establish a joint center to coordinate airstrikes against terrorist groups in Syria.
Daesh and al-Nusra Front are designated terrorist organizations by the UN, the United States and Russian Federation, as well as many other nations, and are not part of the deal.
However, a pair of lorries from Turkey managed to deliver food and children’s toys to the northern Syrian town of Jarabulus, the border town liberated two weeks by the Turkish army in a blitzkrieg offensive.
A Syrian boy serves a juice on the third day of the Al-Adha Eid (Festival of Sacrifice) Muslim holiday in the rebel-controlled town of Hamouria, in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, on the second day of an internally backed ceasefire for Syria came into effect, September 14, 2016.
Besieged Syrian civilians waited desperately for aid on Wednesday as relief convoys remained on hold despite a significant drop in violence under a ceasefire brokered by Washington and Moscow.
Residents of eastern Aleppo are reported to be in desperate need of fuel, flour, wheat, baby formula and medicines.
“I’m not going to tell you I trust them”, said Harrigian.
“As part of their conversation they [Kerry and Lavrov] discussed and agreed to extend the cessation for another 48 hours, with the goal being that this would last seven days and then we would move to the next step, which is the establishment of the JIC [Joint Implementation Center]”, Toner stated.
The two countries back different parties to the conflict – the USA supports opposition fighters, while Russian Federation is allied with the Syrian government.
“But that will be on strikes that are agreed upon with Russian Federation and the United States in order to go after them”.
Under the deal, which was brokered by the USA 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 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.
“The situation is still bad as the markets are empty”, said the 55-year-old.
Twenty-four hours after the truce took effect, senior State Department officials said there had been a reduction in violence.
“We haven’t seen the humanitarian access yet so we’re still continuing to assess this, talking to the Russians”, he said.
Extremist organizations, such as ISIS or Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front), are excluded from the cessation of violence and will be subjected to further attacks.
Lavrov also urged the USA -led coalition to continue viewing Jabhat Fateh al-Sham as a terrorist organization and to carry out strikes on its positions.
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A second United Nations official said that deliveries to Aleppo had to cross numerous checkpoints operated by both opposition and government forces, and there was still uncertainty over whether the aid could get through safely.
