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. “The humanitarian aid, the most substantial change for the people of Syria other than the cessation of bombings, has run into problems”, United Nations special envoy for the Syria crisis Staffan de Mistura told journalists at the UN’s headquarters in Geneva today.
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A senior rebel official in Aleppo warned that Syria’s ceasefire “will not hold out”, as air strikes and shelling continued in some places and promised aid deliveries failed to come through.
“Of course, this is only 24 hours, the 48 hour benchmark is going to be important because that’s the one which will be assessed by the two co-chairs”, he added. “At the same time, the “moderate opposition” led by the USA is increasing the amount of attacks on residential districts”, Konashenkov said according to Sky News.
“I don’t really understand why we have to keep such an agreement closed”, Putin said.
“Our appeal is the following – it’s a simple one”, Mr Egeland said.
The deal is “simple”, said Mr. Egeland: “Well-fed grown men, please stop putting political, bureaucratic, and procedural roadblocks [before] fearless humanitarian workers that are willing to go to serve women, children, wounded civilians in besieged and crossfire areas”.
Aleppo has been the center of fighting in recent months and Syrian government forces and their allies launched a wide offensive earlier this month, capturing several areas south of the city and putting eastern rebel-held neighborhoods under siege for the second time in two months.
There was no immediate confirmation from people in eastern Aleppo. The dead include 700 civilians, among them 160 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“Today calm appears to have prevailed across Hama, Latakia, Aleppo city and Rural Aleppo and Idlib, with only some allegations of sporadic and geographically isolated incidents”, de Mistura said.
The UN has alleged the Syrian government has refused to allow its aid deliveries into the stricken city.
Russian Federation accused the U.S. of covering up opposition violations in Syria on Thursday as the three-day old ceasefire came under increasing strain.
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 Pentagon said dozens of US Special Operations Forces had been deployed to Syria’s border with Turkey to fight IS, at Ankara’s request, in support of the Turkish military and “vetted” Syrian rebels.
State department spokesman Mark Toner said he could not confirm a pull-back by Syrian troops around Castello Road.
In a separate development, air strikes on Friday reportedly killed 23 civilians and wounded 20 others near Deir Az Zor, an eastern town controlled by ISIL. -Russian committee to investigate reported cease-fire violations and “make its findings available to the Syrian public”.
Earlier on Friday, Russia said that only Moscow and the Syrian government were fulfilling the deal. In 40 days preceding the cease-fire, 2,000 people were killed, including 700 civilians.
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De Mistura said some people had used the argument that offices were closed during this week’s Muslim Eid holiday, and the Syrian government had been “a little bit slow” during Eid, but he would not accept that as a valid reason.
