Russia, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said it was ready to extend the truce set to expire later Friday by 72 hours, despite accusing the United States and rebels of not fulfilling the deal.
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The United States and Russian Federation have said that Syrian peace deal should be extended by 48 hours as aid convoys meant to reach besieged populations in the opposition-held parts of northern city of Aleppo remain stalled along the Turkish border.
De Mistura says Thursday the Syrian government has not provided needed “facilitation letters” to allow for the start of United Nations -led aid convoys expected under the new cease-fire agreement.
A respite in hostilities will also allow time for humanitarian aid to be delivered to the besieged city of Aleppo and areas in the Idlib Province. “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.
Under the ceasefire, the USA and Russian Federation said they would set up a “Joint Implementation Centre” to share targeting information for airstrikes in Syria if the truce that took effect on Monday holds for one week.
But a USA state department spokesman said he did not have “intelligence or facts” to confirm a withdrawal.
“We are ready to go, but the facilitation letters, the permits have not been given yet”.
The Russian military says the Syrian army withdrew its armor, artillery and other weapons north of the Castello Road early on Thursday, in line with the U.S. -Russia-brokered truce.
Although the full details of the agreement remain unclear, analysts have said it appears weighted in favor of the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies rather than the Syrian opposition, reports Nicholas Blanford for The Christian Science Monitor.
One of the most powerful opposition groups in the northern province of Aleppo has denied that government forces withdrew from a main road leading into rebel-held parts of Syria’s largest city.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, meanwhile, says Thursday’s airstrike killed seven people.
“We were dying from shelling before, and now we’re going to starve to death”, said Abu Ibrahim, 53.
Once Syria’s most-populated city and now its most-devastated, Aleppo, is most desperate for the aid.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that the United States was not fulfilling its obligations under the ceasefire agreement.
“Not a single permit is in hand”, Mr Egeland said.
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.
A key focus is rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo city where around 250,000 civilians are besieged by government forces.
“Right now, the trucks that could bring them life-saving assistance are idling on the wrong side of the border”, President Barack Obama’s spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Since then, the U.S. had been saying “just hold on”, he said.
“No aid has arrived in Aleppo”.
USA military officials have expressed concerns about Russia’s reliance on so-called dumb bombs in Syria that have led to indiscriminate killings of civilians and opposition forces due to their targeting inaccuracies.
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“As of the third day [of the truce], only the Syrian army is observing the regime of silence. The regime is refusing to allow aid into Aleppo”, said Aleppo-based activist Baraa al-Halaby. Why is it taking Syria so long to approve the convoys’ entry, and why has the approvals system to allow aid in not changed to allow lifesaving aid to get to those who need it faster?
