On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, agreed to a 48-hour extension of the cease-fire, which first came into effect on Monday.
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He quoted Russian observers of the ceasefire near the besieged city of Aleppo and said that the “the only party which is willing to hold talks, comply with the cease-fire and pull back the troops in order to allow United Nations humanitarian aid convoys” are the Syrian government forces.
The UN however says it has not yet received permits from the Syrian government to allow the trucks into opposition areas, where at least 250,000 people are in desperate need of food and medicine.
The government had approved aid deliveries to those locations before the cessation of hostilities but had failed to issue a single letter of authorization, Egeland said. “That is what makes a difference for the people, apart from seeing no more bombs or mortar shelling taking place”.
“So they could go on a minute’s notice”, said Jan Egeland, head of the United Nations humanitarian task force for Syria. “It is particularly regrettable”.
The truce was implemented on Monday after the United States and Russian Federation reached an agreement two days earlier. Once the seven-day ceasefire ends, the USA military is set to begin intelligence sharing with Russian Federation on ISIS targets in the region.
“This is one of the most serious violations of the cease-fire”, al-Shami said via Skype.
“Can well fed grown men please stop putting political bureaucratic and procedural road blocks for fearless humanitarian workers that are willing and able to go to serve women, children, wounded civilians in besieged and cross-fire areas?”
The Russian-American agreement states trucks should be allowed to travel into eastern Aleppo without the need for written permission from the Syrian government.
Russia’s military announced Thursday evening that Syrian government forces had begun withdrawing from Castello road but did not confirm if Russian troops would be stationed there.
Up to 275,000 people in east Aleppo have been cut off from assistance since early July.
“No aid has arrived in Aleppo”.
Aleppo-based activist Bahaa al-Halaby also denied that government troops had withdrawn, adding that humanitarian conditions in the eastern neighborhoods of Syria’s largest city are deteriorating.
Earlier Friday, Russia said that only Moscow and the Syrian regime were fulfilling the truce deal.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor, said that government forces and rebel fighters remained on the road after the ceasefire went into effect, and that the army was not willing to pull back before opposition forces did so.
It said government forces will not start pulling out until the rebels begin to do the same.
It aims to halt fighting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebel factions, but does not include jihadists like the Islamic State group (IS).
In a separate development, air strikes on Friday reportedly killed 23 civilians and wounded 20 others near Deir Az Zor, an eastern town controlled by ISIL.
But there were growing accusations of violations by each side, with a Syrian military source saying the rebels were responsible for dozens of breaches including gun, rocket and mortar fire in Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Latakia. It also said three shells were fired at the government-held southern village of Hadar.
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This week, the number of civilians killed has decreased dramatically, and a cautious calm prevails in many parts of the country that are normally studded with airstrikes.
