East Aleppo, where around 250,000 civilians are besieged by government forces, is a major concern for humanitarian organizations.
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As the only supply route into the embattled part of Syria’s largest city, Castello Road plays a crucial role in ensuring that residents of Aleppo, who are largely dependent on outside aid, can receive food, medical items and other essentials.
But there were growing accusations of violations by each side, with a Syrian military source saying the rebels were responsible for dozens of breaches including gun, rocket and mortar fire in Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Latakia. The lack of permission was “a very major disappointment” even for Syria’s ally Russian Federation, de Mistura said. A statement from other rebel groups said the ceasefire will “leave room for the regime to take advantage of the situation to achieve military gains that they would have been incapable of achieving before”. He says Assad’s government is the chief obstacle to increasing access to aid.
Addressing the council, United States ambassador Samantha Power said that the deal was “not an agreement based on trust and promises”. He said the terms of the ceasefire, particularly the flow of humanitarian aid, must be met before the joint center can be discussed.
“This ceasefire was brought about by outside powers – it was brought about by the United States and Russian Federation, and then basically the warring parties here were told that they are to abide by the ceasefire, so it’s very, very fragile”, Pleitgen said.
The move is necessary before the U.S. and Russian Federation can start conducting joint air strikes targeting Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and so-called Islamic State (IS).
The truce went into effect earlier this week in Syria and has been mostly holding across the war-torn country despite minor violations.
Castello Road has special status under the U.S. -Russia agreement and the United States and Russian Federation are expected to manage a demilitarisation of the route, allowing new checkpoints to ensure the flow of aid, de Mistura said.
Churkin says: “I think we need to adopt it on the 21st” – a reference to Wednesday’s summit level Security Council meeting on Syria.
As usual since this civil war erupted more than five years ago, Syrian civilians are paying the price.
No such permits are needed for eastern Aleppo, which enjoys a “special status” under the Russia-US deal, de Mistura said, pointing out that the regime would not inspect humanitarian cargo travelling to the city on the Castello Road.
A main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said it rejects the presence of a “Russian occupation” force on the road and that United Nations peacekeepers should run the operation to guarantee the delivery of aid. He was ordered to quickly report the rebels’ violation of the deal to the USA military. He says aid is expected to enter rebel-held Aleppo later Friday. The Observatory on Thursday reported the first three deaths since the cease-fire went into effect.
He said it was too early to talk about a resumption of peace talks that were abandoned in April.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting between government troops and rebels is concentrated in the neighbourhood of Jobar, next to Qaboun where rebels have had a presence for years.
Mayadeen is in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, near the Iraqi border.
Aid deliveries are part of a U.S. -Russia deal that imposed the cease-fire.
The U.S. -led coalition, Russian Federation and the Syrian government have been carrying out air raids against the extremist group.
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“We have a problem”, UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura told reporters Thursday.
