UN needs 48 hours for aid deliveries to Aleppo, short truce insufficient

People walk near a damaged vehicle after an air strike in the rebel-held besieged Al Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on October 17, 2016. Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

ALEPPO // The UN on Wednesday dashed hopes that a proposed fighting pause in east Aleppo would allow aid to reach besieged civilians, saying that at least 48 hours would be required for humanitarian convoys to roll.

A pause in Russian and Syrian strikes on Aleppo was holding for a second day on Wednesday, ahead of the ceasefire announced by Moscow which was extended to 11 hours from an initial eight-hour truce. Russia will halt fighting in rebel-held Aleppo from on Thursday 8am to 7pm (9am to 8pm UAE time).

Damascus has not yet pledged to honour the deal and rebel groups have indicated they will not abandon their posts.

“Before we can do something really meaningful ... we need assurances from all parties,” said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian agency.

“It’s great when the guns fall silent but we need all the guns to fall silent,” Mr Laerke said.

Mr Laerke stressed that the UN also needs fighting to stop for “a minimum of 48 hours”, with Russia’s proposal insufficient for UN teams to mobilise.

Moscow is backing president Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in its war with a wide range of rebel groups, including with air strikes in the divided northern city.

Aside from getting desperately needed supplies to east Aleppo’s estimated 250,000 civilians, the UN also wants to evacuate hundreds of people in urgent need of medical care.

* Agence France-Presse