According to one Syrian human rights group, more than 2,000 people have been killed in fighting over the past 40 days in the city of Aleppo, including 700 civilians and 160 children.
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In general, the situation remained quiet in Aleppo, with no significant violations, the activist said.
Just hours before the ceasefire started, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave a defiant message to the country’s opposition forces, vowing “to retake every piece of land from the terrorists”.
Russian Federation is urging Syrian rebels to separate themselves from “terrorists” to ensure that the Russia-U.S. -brokered cease-fire continues to hold in Syria, where a relative calm has prevailed since the truce went into effect two days ago. De Mistura said that would be “quite a challenge” and needed to be done within a week.
The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said that the UN was still waiting for Damascus to issue letters authorising aid deliveries.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that it had received not a single report of combatants or civilians killed by fighting in any areas covered by the truce.
Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched August 24 by Turkey, aims at improving security, supporting coalition forces and eliminating the terror threat along Turkey’s border using Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish armor, artillery and jets.
Two aid convoys bound for the Syrian city of Aleppo are stuck in no-man’s land because of continuing rows about security, the United Nations says. But with security concerns, it was not clear how far into Syria they would go.
Syrians ride their motorcycles at the Turkish Cilvegozu border gate on September 14, 2016.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged Russian Federation and the U.S. to push all warring sides in Syria to allow safe passage for desperately needed aid.
“We are waiting for this cessation of hostilities to deliver the assurances and the peace before trucks can start moving from Turkey”.
United Kingdom humanitarian aid spokesman David Swanson said “things are taking longer than we’d hoped”, going on to describe how warring sides were blocking aid reaching opposition-held eastern Aleppo.
“We need to enter into an environment where we are not in mortal danger”.
The first planned deliveries will provide food assistance to east Aleppo, delivered across the border from Turkey, he said.
The UN got the regime’s approval on September 6 to deliver aid to almost one million people this month, including to the rebel held eastern part of Aleppo, which has been encircled by government forces.
Hassan told Reuters the opposition-held part of the city, which has been fully encircled by pro-regime forces for more than a week, was in dire need of fuel, flour, wheat, baby milk, and medicines.
Initially, the deal allows the Syrian air force to continue strikes in areas where IS and Fateh al-Sham, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, are present.
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However, it said it estimated the full death toll to be about 430,000.
