UN: Aleppo aid delivery pending on all parties’ commitment

August 23, 2016 WORLD No Comments

The United Nations has hailed a proposal by Russia to implement a humanitarian ceasefire in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo while calling on all sides to commit to the truce.
The UN aid chief, Stephen O'Brien (seen below), told the Security Council on Monday that the world body is prepared to start delivering aid to the embattled city, but it first needs commitments from all warring parties.

On Thursday, Russia announced that it is ready to support a proposal by the United Nations for weekly 48-hour ceasefires in Aleppo in a bid to allow humanitarian aid deliveries to the northwestern Syrian city.
"While this (Russian) statement is positive, this cannot be a one-sided offer," O'Brien said. "Once we have the green light, we can start to move assistance within 48 to 72 hours," he added.
He went on to stress that no aid had been delivered to the city in August due to the fighting in the city.   

"I'm angry, I'm very angry…This callous carnage that is Syria has long since moved from cynical to sinful," he said.

Militants shoot a weapon on the back of a pick-up truck in southwest of Aleppo, Syria August 2, 2016. (Reuters) 

Aleppo has been divided since 2012 between government forces in the west and the Takfiri terrorists in the east. Syrian forces have been engaged in a major operation to liberate the militant-held areas of the city as well as the province with the same name.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict. Back in 2014, the UN said it would no more update its official death toll for Syria because it could not verify the figures that it received from various sources.