Staffan de Mistura put the blame squarely on a lack of authorisation from Bashar Assad’s government that has even disappointed the Syrian president’s key backer: Russian Federation. Since March 2011, more than a quarter of a million Syrians have been killed and over one million have been injured. -Russian agreement, de Mistura cited a lack of cooperation by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
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The deal has somewhat quieted the bombs over Syria’s second city Aleppo, but aid convoys have not been allowed to reach the roughly 250,000 civilians besieged by government forces.
“This is something that is required to take place immediately”, he told reporters in Geneva.
The UN Security Council has demanded that all parties to the conflict in Syria allow aid workers swift and safe access to people in need, and external actors, notably the United States and Russian Federation, should pressure the Syrian government to allow unhindered aid, particularly in areas hardest hit by the war.
“We call here on the Syrian government and friendly states to prevent the entry of any kind of aid to the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo before its passage to Fua and Kafarya”, the group said on its FaceBook page.
“Our appeal is the following-it’s a simple one”, Egeland said.
“Can well-fed grown men please stop putting political, bureaucratic and procedural road blocks for courageous humanitarian workers that are willing to go to serve women, children, wounded civilians in besieged and crossfire areas?”
Earlier, activists said the ceasefire was still holding despite some violations. The third casualty, according to the Observatory, was a civilian who also died by sniper fire in the rebel-held part of Aleppo.
It said government forces will not start pulling out until the rebels begin to do the same.
The fighting that erupted in neighborhoods on the edges of Damascus is the heaviest in weeks and could be heard across the Syrian capital. However, France called on Washington to share details of the deal on Thursday. The withdrawals will make way for the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to establish checkpoints on the road and direct aid convoys in.
Earlier Friday, a Syrian opposition monitoring group reported that Russian troops deployed along the Castello Road, which would mark the most overt participation of its ground forces in the Syrian war and underline Moscow’s role as a major power broker. The warning came as President Barack Obama’s top national security aides continued to wrangle over whether and how to cooperate militarily with the Russians in the event those conditions are met.
The UN Security Council, meanwhile, cancelled an urgent meeting that had been called to discuss whether to endorse the truce, billed as the “last chance” to end the five-year war.
The Kremlin also said it was using its influence to try to ensure the Syrian army fully implemented the ceasefire agreement and that it hoped the United States would use its own influence with rebel groups too.
While a new US-Russia ceasefire has largely held since taking effect on Monday, aid workers have not been able to use the lull in fighting to deliver desperately needed food and medicines. The dead include 700 civilians, among them 160 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syria is in desperate need of aid, particularly in Aleppo where the fighting has been the most intense. However, according to the United Nations, the Syrian regime is blocking the aid trucks from entering the besieged city.
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An AFP correspondent said no movement could be seen on the rubble-strewn Castello Road, the main route for humanitarian assistance in to divided Aleppo.
