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Russia says Assad’s future is Syria’s business

United Nations aid trucks are waiting north of Aleppo in Turkey, but a Syrian security source told AFP on Wednesday that the regime had yet to withdraw its forces from the key Castello Road running to the Turkish border.

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The current ceasefire was called so that desperately needed humanitarian aid could be delivered.

At least 23 people, including nine children, were killed during airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, as the United States and Russian Federation accused each other of violating a fragile ceasefire.

In a statement, he defined the United States role as “first and foremost to separate “moderate opposition” groups from terrorists”. He also restated Moscow’s demand that the US use its influence with opposition forces it supports to distance themselves from al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

This is, said Kerry, “a more prescriptive and far-reaching approach than we have been able to put together to date”.

Despite the cease-fire, however, the SNHR said, aid deliveries have been prevented from reaching the eastern part of Aleppo in line with an agreement reached in February.

As officials work to get access for aid convoys, the two main players in the ceasefire deal accused each other of not meeting expectations. The report said two people guarding the location were wounded. Aid is expected to enter rebel-held Aleppo later Friday, he said.

As Syria’s ceasefire largely holds, residents trapped in Aleppo eagerly await crucial aid supplies after months cut off from the rest of the world.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner acknowledged the skepticism.

“Incidents are still far below those observed before September 12”. Russian Federation is a critical backer of Assad, while the United States and allies have sided with rebel factions seeking Assad’s ouster. “There is no withdrawal by the regime from the Castello Road”, Zakaria Malahifji, rebel group Fastaqim, told Reuters.

Konashenkov says Russian officers of the Center for Reconciliation are monitoring the Castello Road leading to Aleppo, but he stopped short of saying whether there were any Russian troops there.

It’s not clear if those strikes were carried out unilaterally or in coordination with the US.

As sounds of bombs and shelling remain mostly absent in Syria following a ceasefire deal, the outcry is getting louder over the lack of access for humanitarian convoys.

The aid is eagerly anticipated in Aleppo, where Assad’s forces have been trying to retake the city from rebel control for weeks.

The UN’s Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura said even Russian Federation, which backs the government, is frustrated by the go-slow.

Laerke also clarified United Nations comments a day earlier, saying that the United Nations does not require authorization from Syria’s government for cross-border aid deliveries under the terms of a Security Council resolution from 2014.

The road has “special status” under the agreement, the UN’s special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said in Geneva Thursday.

Under the terms of the deal, if the peace holds for seven days, Russian Federation and the United States will establish a Joint Implementation Center for cooperation on military operations in Syria targeting terror groups.

Once the JIC is established, the Syrian government will be barred from conducting air operations in areas where the JIC is active. “At one point we’re going to be asked to support in greater detail this plan, so to do that we will need to have all the information”.

It accuses the government of not giving permission for the U.N.to deliver trucks of aid to besieged eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo _ 2:05 p.m.

Almost half a million people have been killed in the years-long civil war.

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There were still intermittent incidents, including an airstrike overnight on Khan Toman in the countryside south of Aleppo, according to an Aleppo Media Center activist.

UN has 'problem' getting aid to Syria: lack of government OK