He insists that Russian Federation has fully met its obligations under the truce, but voiced doubt that the USA would be able to fulfill its pledge to persuade the opposition to sever links with al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, which has changed its name from Jabhat al-Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.
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The aid is badly needed.
The truce that began at sundown on Monday is part of the latest bid to end a five-year conflict that has killed more than 300,000 people.
There have been dozens of claimed ceasefire violations over that period, with Russian Federation claiming they’d documented 60 such incidents. Speaking to Reuters, he lamented a lack of mechanisms to enforce the ceasefire and accused the government and its allies of committing minor violations “to impede the other goals of the truce, such as delivering necessary aid to besieged areas”.
A cease-fire between Syrian rebels and the army of Damascus took effect Monday 7:00 p.m. local under an agreement between Russians and Americans respective supporters of the regime and the rebels.
Russian General Viktor Poznikhir said the cease-fire, which does not include UN-designated terrorist groups, was violated about 60 times in the past two days, but Russia was still keen to continue it, according to comments carried by state news agency TASS.
The global community’s first goal is to get aid to Aleppo, the scene of Syria’s fiercest fighting in recent months and divided into sectors held by the government and insurgents. And for the 250,000 trapped under siege in eastern Aleppo, the truce – while they welcomed it – has yet to make their lives easier. Capturing the opposition-held area of Syria’s biggest city would be a major boost for President Bashar al-Assad’s war effort. If the ceasefire holds for a week, Washington and Moscow will work together to strike at extremist forces such as ISIL and the former Al Qaeda affiliated Jabhat Fatah Al Sham.
If the deal does hold, it could open the door to new peace talks to resolve the conflict, with Russian Federation saying Mr De Mistura could invite government and opposition representatives to new talks “at the very beginning of October”. “Things are taking longer than we’d hoped”, David Swanson, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told Reuters.
United Nations aid trucks are waiting north of Aleppo in Turkey, but a Syrian security source told AFP the regime had yet to withdraw its forces from the key Castello Road running to the Turkish border. “This is not something we could ever envision doing”, he said.
The convoy of aid was supposed to head towards the city on Wednesday, but Ban said the security arrangements were still not in place despite the truce.
The Syrian government said it would not allow in unauthorised aid from Turkey, a staunch backer of the rebels.
The aid shipment, organized by the youth wing of Turkey’s ruling AKP party, became possible after Turkey-backed Syrian rebels ousted Islamic State group fighters from the town last month.
A second United Nations official said that deliveries to Aleppo had to cross numerous checkpoints operated by both opposition and government forces, and there was still uncertainty over whether the aid could get through safely. The UN has repeatedly criticized the Syrian government for restricting access, especially to besieged areas, and for removing vital items from convoys.
The ceasefire deal, meant to bring humanitarian relief, calls for a halt to the violence between the Syrian regime and rebel forces. But a similar truce in February gradually broke down and violence escalated sharply, particularly around Aleppo.
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UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told reporters on Tuesday in Geneva that the UN was waiting for an authorisation from the Syrian government to deliver aid. A Turkish official said no further trucks were expected to cross the border on Wednesday until the situation became clearer.
