The United Nations yesterday urged Syria’s government to allow immediate aid deliveries to hunger-stricken civilians after a fragile ceasefire was extended for 48 hours by Russian Federation and the United States.
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Russian Federation called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which convened Saturday evening to discuss the air raid.
How effective has the Syria ceasefire been? The closed-door consultations were scrapped after Moscow and Washington failed to agree over disclosing details of the ceasefire to the council.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry denied on Saturday that government of President Bashar al-Assad was blocking aid access to the divided city of Aleppo.
Earlier, Syria and Russian Federation had accused the US-led coalition of striking a Syrian Army base and blamed the raid for an Isis advance in the area.
US President Barack Obama also voiced “deep concern” that the government continued to block humanitarian aid.
Food aid for desperate civilians in eastern Aleppo remained stuck on the Syrian border on Friday, the fourth morning of a fragile internationally-brokered truce in the war-ravaged country.
Insurgents have expressed doubt over the viability of the deal from the beginning.
A number of countries are opposed to the US-Russian agreement on the new Syrian ceasefire and will continue supporting militants in Syria, the representative added.
The council had been due to discuss whether to endorse the truce.
Russian Federation on Thursday said government forces had begun to pull out from the area and accused rebel fighters of failing to withdraw as agreed.
“The Russian Federation is agreeing with us”, he said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting between government troops and rebels is concentrated in the neighbourhood of Jobar, next to Qaboun where rebels have had a presence for years.
Both sides had agreed to plan joint attacks on the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham group if the cease-fire held for seven days.
In the Syrian capital, Damascus, rare clashes erupted between government forces and an insurgent group, marking some of the most serious clashes in the area in weeks.
Government-held areas were shelled in eastern Damascus, wounding three people, Syrian state media said.
If true, the strike would mark the first known time the United States had targeted Syrian government forces since the start of the five-year-old conflict.
Staffan de Mistura said the U.N.is prepared to move 40 aid trucks that would deliver assistance primarily to the besieged northern Syrian city of Aleppo, but the Assad regime has yet to provide the needed “facilitation letters” that would allow the convoys entry, the Associated Press reported.
“As of Saturday morning, there has been no [delivery] progress”, said David Swanson, an official at the UN’s regional humanitarian affairs office for the Syria crisis.
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OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said “it is my understanding” that United Nations officials are waiting for assurances that conditions are safe enough for convoys to proceed from Turkey to eastern Aleppo.
