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Russian troops deployed to clear path for aid to Aleppo

“We are working on it”, he told reporters in NY, adding that he thought it should be adopted when the Security Council meets on Syria next Wednesday.

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The UN said it has not received the necessary guarantees from the U.S. and Russian Federation for aid convoys to cross the Turkish border into Syria – nor permission from the Syrian government for trucks to get through government checkpoints to deliver badly need supplies.

“Our appeal is the following”, Egeland said.

“Grown, well-fed men still prevent us from coming to the real relief of civilians: women, children, wounded”, Egeland told the BBC.

The truce has been holding despite some violations, with the Syrian opposition on Thursday reporting 46 cease-fire violations around the country.

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said one girl was killed when missiles fired by rebels hit a village in the southern province of Quneitra.

The government blamed the armed opposition of violating the cease-fire in different parts of Syria, including a rocket attack on the government-held side of Aleppo that damaged a church. United Nations officials have blamed the delay on the Syrian government, which has failed to provide the agency with the necessary permits to bring relief convoys from Turkey.

“Today the withdrawal is supposed to happen, with aid entering tomorrow”.

Syrian activists reported that Russian troops were deploying along the road, while the Russian Defense Ministry only mentioned it had military observers on the road. A military source said yesterday Syria’s army “has carried out its pledge and handed over a number of points to the Russian monitoring teams”, but that rebel groups had not withdrawn from their positions.

The text of the cease-fire agreement has not been released and Russian Federation said it was being kept private at the request of the United States.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said United Nations officials are waiting for assurances that conditions are safe enough for convoys to proceed from Turkey to eastern Aleppo.

It says Thursday that government forces will not start pulling out until the rebels begin to do the same.

“It goes without saying that Russia continues using its influence in order to ensure the implementation of the ceasefire agreements and it hopes that our U.S. counterparts will be doing the same”, he said in remarks carried by the Russian news agency TASS.

But the ceasefire is shaky, clashes have continued and aid has not been able to reach Aleppo.

A Syrian government soldier and unidentified people walk in the damaged Khan al-Wazir market in the government-held side of Aleppo’s historic city centre on September 16, 2016.

Syria’s state news agency SANA said opposition fighters opened fire at a location along the Castello road that was being prepared for Syrian Arab Red Crescent representatives.

Syria’s military says the USA -led coalition struck its base in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, allowing the Islamic State group to advance in the fiercely contested area.

Fighters affiliated to al-Qaida and the so-called “Islamic State” group, who are excluded from the ceasefire, are not present in the area, he said.

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Obama discussed the cease-fire agreement and the broader campaign against the Islamic State group with his national security team Friday.

Syria truce brings 'significant drop' in fighting