The UN and Turkey are seeking security guarantees before sending aid convoys into Aleppo, after a shaky start to a ceasefire across Syria that observers say is starting to take hold.
The deal, brokered by Russia and the US, is expected to clear the way for aid deliveries to many of the 18 besieged areas in Syria by grounding the Russian and Syrian air forces and asking opposition groups to lower their weapons.
Despite widespread scepticism in the run-up to the truce, which began Monday, most rebel groups appear to have grudgingly backed the agreement, which diplomats have suggested could be a first step towards a more lasting peace.
Stopped counting
Yesterday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a group that monitors the conflict, updated its tally of fatalities. The SOHR said, since the crisis began in March 2011, more than 301,000 people have died, 86,000 of them civilians.
It said the actual figure might be 70,000 higher, as insurgent groups do not announce their deaths and there are other deaths that are not documented. The UN previously suggested the toll may be as high as 400,000, but officials stopped counting in August last year. Turkish reports said 40 trucks were due to cross the border into Syria late yesterday. Much of the aid was destined for rebel-held eastern Aleppo, which has been largely besieged by Bashar al-Assad’s regime for the past two months.
The northern entrance to the city was bombed from the air shortly after the ceasefire began and remains one of the most bitterly contested areas.
Control of Aleppo remains central to the conflict. On the opposition side, rebel groups have blended with Islamist groups and jihadis, such as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham – the rebranded Jabhat al-Nusra – to defend the city. On the other, Iranian-backed Shia militias and Hizbullah, supported by the Syrian army, are battling to take it from them.
Jabhat Fatah al-Sham released a statement yesterday criticising the deal, which excluded the group and stated it remains a target for Russian and US jets. A critical theme of the deal was to isolate jihadis from mainstream groups. The latter have been reluctant to disentangle themselves from jihadi groups, who have acted as guarantors in the face of relentless attacks from Russian and Syrian aircraft.
If the truce holds, Russia and the US will open a joint operations room within seven days, to map out areas that remain valid targets. – (Guardian service)