The battle for Syria’s contested city of Aleppo has crippled its infrastructure and left 2 million residents without running water, the United Nations children’s agency says Tuesday.
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Prospects for restarting Syrian peace talks have dimmed considerably this month as fighting that rages around the northern city of Aleppo prevents humanitarian aid convoys from delivering supplies, according to the US ambassador to the United Nations.
There is no sign of respite in fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels in the country’s second largest city of Aleppo, prompting fears that civilians trapped in the conflict would face a catastrophic situation if aid routes are not opened soon.
Reportedly, nearly 275,000 civilians are still trapped in the eastern area of the largest Syrian city.
“The U.N.is extremely concerned that the consequences will be dire for millions of civilians if the electricity and water networks are not immediately repaired”, it said in a statement.
Safronkov said during a UN Security Council session that the humanitarian situation in Syria should not be politicized and used intentionally or unintentionally for protecting terrorists or other members who make residents of Aleppo human shields and prevent them form leaving the city, in addition to shelling the humanitarian corridors and stealing humanitarian aid. The U.N. has called for a “humanitarian pause” to allow for repairs to be made to the contested city’s infrastructure.
Safe drinking water is now being trucked from UNICEF-equipped 70 ground water wells and the Queiq River, close to Aleppo city, where UNICEF and partners installed 28 water treatment units.
The rebel commander accused the Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) of helping the regime, and said that their forces will not leave the al-Castello road under control of either the Kurds or the regime. The U.N. urged a ceasefire on Tuesday after Aleppo residents have gone four days without access to running water.
On 5 August 2016 in Aleppo city, Syria, families take shelter in a mosque after the latest wave of attacks. The organization said that there were at least ten attacks on medical facilities in eastern Aleppo just in July.
But it warned that civilians would soon be forced to resort to unsafe water sources if the pumping systems were not quickly repaired.
“If the fighting continues it is conceivable that civilians on both sides of Aleppo could be cut off from the basic assistance they need”.
Russian Federation and the United States are both conducting air strikes in Syria against Islamic State fighters, but support opposing sides in a wider civil war, with Moscow backing Assad’s government and Washington saying he must leave office.
There are thought to be about 300,000 people living in the rebel-held east, and about 1.2 million in the government-controlled west.
“We can deliver these within 24 to 48 hours if we have safe access”.
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Sahloul then showed slides showing women and child victims, one of them a child he said was injured in a chlorine gas attack.
