Mr Bogdanov also urged Syrian government and opposition representatives to resume UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva, which broke down in April as the fighting around Aleppo escalated. Aleppo’s city center remains under rebel control, though Syrian government groups surround it from three sides.
Advertisement
Humanitarian organisation Mercy Corps has warned that rebel-held parts of Aleppo have been cut-off from aid for the longest period since 2012.
Russian Federation says the truce went into effect after midnight Wednesday.
“This has contributed to the deaths of thousands of civilians, either through starvation, malnutrition-related illness, or a lack of access to medical aid”.
Obama called for regime change early on in the conflict and threatened military strikes against Syrian forces after blaming President Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons in 2013.
“Today, Russian aircraft conducted a series of air strikes near al-Tanf against Syrian Counter-ISIL forces that included individuals who have received USA support”, said the senior defence official, who requested anonymity.
More than 590,000 people have been living under siege in 18 areas with no relief, Egeland stressed.
The Observatory said fierce fighting between government forces and rebels took place overnight near the road, with heavy government shelling of the area.
#BREAKING #Syria: Yet another hospital affected by airstrikes in #Aleppo, MSF-supported Omar Bin Abdulaziz is now out of service.
“We call for this”, Bogdanov stressed, answering a question if the ceasefire declared for two days can become a long-term one.
While celebrating the prospect of partially or fully reaching all of the besieged areas in Syria this year, after reaching only two during 2015, Egeland acknowledged that the increased access “could end tomorrow”.
Russia, an ally of Syria, announced the truce there on Thursday but did not name parties who had agreed to it. There has been no public comment on the truce announcement from Assad’s forces or from factions fighting his forces.
“We have to work with the Syrian government”, Dujarric said.
“I really hope that this was a turning point for our access to besieged areas and also to hard-to-reach areas, but we shouldn’t be naive, the war is continuing and in a war zone everything is fragile”.
Advertisement
Russian Federation accused Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front, of attacking various Aleppo neighborhoods with multiple rocket launchers, as well as mounting a tank attack southwest of the city.
