U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says humanitarian aid to Syrians is being held up by a lack of security arrangements despite a Russia-U.S. brokered cease-fire deal.
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Over 2,000 people were killed in 40 days of fighting in Aleppo until the cease-fire went into effect Monday.
Millions of Syrians are in desperate need of assistance, especially in besieged and hard-to-reach areas with severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine. The U.S. -led coalition, Russian Federation and the Syrian government have been carrying out air raids against the extremist group.
Votel said the deal presents an opportunity for reducing violence in Syria, and to address a “horrible humanitarian situation”.
He called the relief efforts “particularly complex” because of “some parties to the conflict that are not fully on board”.
Syrian troops, allied militias and civilian areas came under shelling 23 times since the truce took effect on Monday, mostly from areas where USA -backed rebels are based, Russian Lt.
If the cease-fire holds for seven days and humanitarian deliveries continue, the US would begin discussions with Russian Federation on the establishment of a joint implementation cell. The cease-fire is the second attempt by the two countries to temper fighting that has now killed almost half a million people.
A war monitor and a senior rebel official said this is a step that must happen for the delivery to take place under a U.S.
The deal, described by Mr Kerry as the “last chance to save a united Syria”, was struck on Friday in Geneva after months of talks between Russian Federation and the US.
A commander with the Jaish al-Mujahideen rebel brigade demonstrated Wednesday the ambiguity of the opposition’s position on aid and the cease-fire.
Supplies are in warehouses ready for transportation to rebel-held east Aleppo and other besieged areas as soon as they are cleared to enter, said spokeswoman Krista Armstrong of the International Committee of the Red Cross. “Which the Syrian people will not accept”.
Earlier on Thursday, activists said the cease-fire was still holding despite some violations.
Besieged civilians were still waiting desperately for relief in Syria’s war-battered second city of Aleppo, with 20 United Nations aid trucks stranded on the Turkish border over security concerns.
But there remains deep scepticism about whether the truce will hold, with the opposition yet to officially sign on.
The aid, comprising 25 tons of flour, rice and pasta organised by the youth wing of Turkey’s ruling AKP party arrived on Wednesday, the third day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. Aid delivery is also an important way to judge if a ceasefire is successful.
Kerry and Lavrov spoke over the phone on Wednesday (14 September) and agreed to extend the ceasefire, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed. “The people can not endure much longer without supplies”.
Syrian civilians and a rescue worker evacuate children in the Maadi district of eastern Aleppo after regime aircraft reportedly dropped explosive-packed barrel bombs, August 27, 2016. Washington acknowledges its responsibility to stop violations committed by the anti-government forces.
Moscow earlier stated that a humanitarian corridor to Aleppo could be opened once the rebels confirm their readiness to pull troops back from roads leading to the city.
The agreement envisions Castello Road as “a demilitarized zone, where there could be greater traffic, greater humanitarian traffic, unimpeded and unthreatened”, the US official said.
Speaking in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday, Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy, said there were 20 aid trucks ready to cross the border from Turkey into Syria, and make it to Aleppo city where a cessation of hostilities was holding “by and large”.
It said that units of the opposition “controlled by the U.S.” have intensified their shelling of civilian residential areas. “But in fact they took sides with Assad years ago”.
Russian Federation said it had recorded 60 rebel violations, but senior military officer Viktor Poznikhir said Moscow was calling “for the extension of the cessation of hostilities on all Syrian territory for 48 hours”. There is no agreement on any joint US-Russian operations. But “we will allow [the aid] because our people are suffering”.
However, Poznikhir said there were doubts about whether the USA would be able to fulfill its pledge to persuade the opposition to sever links with Fatah al-Sham, formerly al Qaeda’s Syria branch the Nusra front.
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Poznikhir also said Russian Federation had bombed the area north of the historic city of Palmyra, “where IS militants are concentrated”, in the first such strikes since the truce came into force.
