UN Official says Syria Has Not Granted ‘a Single Permit’ to Aid Besieged Aleppo

Syrians stage a rally Sept. 14, 2016, calling for aid to reach Aleppo . The placard reads in Arabic: “Every agreement which is not done with the rebels is void.” (Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters)

The Syrian government has not granted the United Nations “a single permit” to bring aid to the besieged city of Aleppo as part of a cease-fire that took effect this week, a senior U.N. official said Thursday.

The U.N. has prepared a convoy with food rations for tens of thousands of people, but the trucks remain stuck on the Turkish-Syrian border. Opening channels for humanitarian access across Syria was a key provision of the cease-fire plan brokered by the United States and Russia.

“We could go today. We’re not . . . The permits have not been given,” Syrian humanitarian task force chairman, Jan Egeland, told reporters in Geneva.

Security also remains a chief concern for aid coordinators. U.N. officials and others worry about potential attacks from miltant factions that are outside the cease-fire pact.

“We hope to go tomorrow, to eastern Aleppo,” he said, referring to a rebel-held area that has been under siege by government forces for more than a month. Aleppo, however, is just one of many areas cut off from aid and other assistance.

The 40 trucks carrying rice, wheat, lentils, and sugar “can go at a moment’s notice,” he said.

The cease-fire, which went into effect Monday night, has largely held in key areas across the country. But the wrangling over aid has threatened to undermine the truce.

The journey from the Turkish border to Aleppo “is not an easy one,” David Swanson, a spokesman for the U.N’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Thursday. “Security is a major concern, and road conditions are poor.”

In addition, it remained unclear Thursday if any of the armed groups, including the Syrian military, withdrew from the main road into East Aleppo. Demilitarization of Castello Road is key to allowing further humanitarian access, U.S. officials have said.

Nearly half a million people have been killed in the years-long civil war. The United States has backed some rebel groups and worked with the opposition, while Russia is allied with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.

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SOURCE: Erin Cunningham 
The Washington Post