Desperate Syrians await aid during ‘positive’ cease-fire

BEIRUT – Hundreds of thousands of Syrians living under siege are still waiting for humanitarian aid, the United Nations said, as a cease-fire brokered by Russia and the United States looked set to hold beyond 48 hours.

Despite the relative calm in the war-torn country, disputes among the warring parties are holding up deliveries of aid.

Some 600,000 Syrians are living in areas under siege or which are hard to reach, according to the United Nations.

The truce, which went into effect Monday night, was “positive,” a monitoring group said Wednesday.

“The cease-fire is being implemented very well, despite some breaches. So far it has been persevering and protecting the Syrian people who have been paying a high price,” said Rami Adbulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory said late Wednesday that it “did not register any death of a civilian, rebel fighter, regime soldier or their allies in the areas where the cease-fire was being implemented in the past 48.”

Russian General Viktor Poznikhir said the cease-fire, which does not include U.N.-designated terrorist groups, was violated about 60 times in the past two days, but Russia was still keen on continuing it, according to comments carried by state news agency TASS.

Russian warplanes on Tuesday killed about 250 militants of the terrorist group Islamic State on the outskirts of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, Poznikhir told a news conference.

Al-Qaida-linked militants often fight alongside rebels against President Bashar Assad, adding a layer of complication to a cease-fire.

“It is hard to accept a continued intermingling and cooperation between the opposition and an organization which is al-Qaida in Syria,” a senior U.S. official said late Tuesday, adding that the rebel movement would have to “distance itself” if the cease-fire holds.

Rebels have relied on the power of al-Qaida-linked fighters, most recently to temporarily break the siege of Aleppo city, in the north of the country. The government eventually managed to retake key areas and reimpose a blockage.

According to activists inside a rebel-held area east of Aleppo, calm is prevailing but people are waiting for aid agencies to be allowed access.

“People are anxiously waiting for food and medical aid to enter Aleppo,” Omar al Arab, an activist based in eastern Aleppo, told dpa.

Between 250,000 and 275,000 people in east Aleppo have been cut off from assistance since early July, according to the U.N.

U.N. officials said they were still awaiting “a green light” to move.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said 20 truckloads were ready and were supposed to be delivered on Wednesday.

“But, unfortunately, because of all these arrangements for making sure the security and safety of the people – humanitarian workers, including drivers – have not been made yet . they are now at the border of Syria,” he said.

He said it was “crucially important” that the necessary security arrangements be made so that the trucks can be allowed to cross the lines.

“A lot of people are dying from poverty and disease and because of lack of sanitary support,” he said.

U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told reporters Tuesday in Geneva that the U.N. was waiting for an authorization from the Syrian government to deliver aid.

The Syrian government said it would not allow in unauthorized aid from Turkey, a staunch backer of the rebels.

Syrian opposition supporters have become increasingly critical of the U.N., saying it relies too much on permission from Damascus to carry out humanitarian work, leaving rebel-held areas at a severe disadvantage.

Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the Observatory estimates 301,781 people have been killed.

More than half of Syria’s prewar population of 22.4 million have been displaced, including nearly 5 million refugees who have fled the country.