The UN said on Thursday it was talking to Russian Federation about a “workable humanitarian pause” in fighting in Aleppo and that three hours a day was “not enough” to help up to 2-million civilians trapped in the divided Syrian city.
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The accusations came hours after the Russian military, which is fighting alongside Syrian government forces in the civil war, promised a daily, three-hour cease-fire for Aleppo to allow humanitarian aid in to besieged areas.
Trudeau was responding to a question about reports from Syrian opposition groups that at least two people were killed in a government airstrike using chlorine gas in Aleppo on Aug 10.
Due to the siege, it is very hard to provide support to medical facilities in Aleppo and many other Syrian cities, Perache said.
U.N. humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said that a 48-hour pause was required to ensure safe deliveries, adding: “What is the new and positive thing today is that the Russian Federation said they would like to sit down with us and the other co-chair (the United States) to discuss how the U.N. proposal could be implemented”.
United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura confirmed the global body’s experts were investigating reports of a gas, believed to be chlorine, being dropped on Aleppo.
Aleppo has been divided between a rebel-held east and regime-controlled west since fighting erupted in mid-2012, with fighting intensifying in the past month and both sides sending in reinforcements for an all-out battle that could mark a turning point in the five-year war.
For the third time in just two weeks, chemical weapons were reportedly used against civilians in northern Syria.
The eastern part of Aleppo has been held by rebel groups since 2012. The Syrian Civil Defense, a group of first responders, said it pulled 10 people alive from under the rubble.
A shortage of well-supplied hospitals has resulted in countless deaths that might have been prevented had the mortally wounded been able to seek medical treatment – a shortage of doctors, many of whom have either been killed or fled Aleppo since the fighting erupted, has made the situation even more dire.
Rebels and jihadists broke a government siege over the weekend, allowing aid into Syria’s second city. “There was an attack from the air and then there was a strong smell of gas”.
Regarding the current situation in Aleppo, where almost 300,000 residents are stranded and in need of humanitarian assistance, Haq said there have been indications of improvements but the overall conditions are unsafe.
Syrian government forces are suspected of carrying out dozens of horrific attacks with chlorine and other chemical weapons on opposition-held areas since 2012, killing hundreds and inflicting awful injuries on others.
Fighting persisted in Aleppo on Thursday more than an hour into a three-hour ceasefire announced by Russian Federation, two opposition groups and a witness in the city said, as government forces tried to reverse last week’s opposition gains. Last week, the Syrian government and the opposition traded accusations of using chlorine, also in Aleppo.
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According to right groups and doctors, there have been dozens of attacks with chlorine gas since Syria officially agreed to give up its weapons stockpile following a 2013 sarin gas assault on a Damascus suburb.
