Under the truce deal, which took effect late Monday, fighting is to halt across the country except where jihadists are present.
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If the cease-fire holds for a week, the United States and Russian Federation will begin steps to combine military operations to eliminate obstacles to peace – meaning joint operations could begin against militant groups the Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front.
It can take weeks for a particular enemy target to get approved and added to the air-tasking order that the USA -led coalition uses to assign airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. An official in an Aleppo-based Syrian rebel group said global parties had told him aid was now due to be delivered on Friday. The regime reportedly dropped barrel bombs on rebel-held areas of Aleppo just minutes after the ceasefire began.
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 eastern neighbourhoods where some 250,000 people live have been under government siege for most of the last two months.
OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke says “it is my understanding” that United Nations officials are waiting for assurances that conditions are safe enough for two convoys of 20 trucks each to proceed from Turkey to eastern Aleppo.
“We’ve seen violations by both sides”, he said, adding, “we’re continuing to monitor this very closely”. “Security is a major concern, and road conditions are poor”. “We heard today from the Russians that that is already taking place”.
Residents in Aleppo have welcomed the lull in the conflict that has displaced more than half their country’s population and destroyed their city, a former economic powerhouse.
But they expressed frustration about the delay in promised aid to eastern districts. But while the truce is not flawless, there have been no deaths recorded and the deal has proven fruitful enough to have been extended by another 48 hours.
“We were dying from shelling before, and now we’re going to starve to death”, said Abu Ibrahim, 53.
“The situation is still bad as the markets are empty”, the 55-year-old told AFP.
Also not included in the truce is the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, the Fatah al-Sham Front which was formerly known as the Nusra Front. Experts say the deal will be particularly hard to implement in areas where Fateh al-Sham has formed strong alliances with local rebels.
The United States warned Russian Federation on Friday that potential military cooperation envisioned by a cease-fire deal in Syria will not happen unless humanitarian aid begins to flow into Aleppo and other besieged communities.
Lt. Gen. Viktor Poznikhir of the Russian military’s General Staff urged him to observe the truce, but emphasized that the Syrian army has the right to fight back if it faces a rebel offensive.
The Observatory reported minor violations by both sides, but no casualties.
Other officials have said they believe there is no veto authority on either side, and that the USA would bear no responsibility if a Russian strike killed civilians.
“If things continue on this path it will be a positive development in protecting Syrian civilians from killing, fighting and displacement”. The UN said the truce managed to significantly reduce violence in Syria, but skepticism remains, as a similar attempt in February eventually collapsed.
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Russian Federation has not been a part of the USA -led anti-ISIS coalition in Syria, which has provided support to some groups under the FSA umbrella, but France is.
