Eleanor Service|
An aid convoy has finally managed to reach one of the many besieged towns in Syria. This is because the UN has used the partial truce organised by the US and Russia as an opportunity to deliver aid.
The UN and its supporting groups are increasing deliveries of water, food and medicine. They aim to reach upwards of 150,000 people over the course of the next five days.
By the end of March, they are hoping to help 1.7 million people situated in hard-to-reach areas.
The UN’s secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, said earlier, that this ceasefire had held “by and large” since Saturday.
Ki-Moon also said that a taskforce regulating compliance to this truce, co-chaired by Russia and the US, would convene for the first time to assess alleged violations.
France has conveyed concern regarding reports of air strikes by Syrian government and Russian aircraft, on places controlled by mainstream rebel forces.
Russia has said that its only targeting jihadist terrorist organisations that are designated by the UN – including the group known as Islamic State (IS), and the al-Nusra Front which belongs to a dominant rebel alliance – which adheres to the terms laid out in the ceasefire agreement.
Meanwhile the US Defence Secretary, Ashton Carter, emphasised that the coalition lead by the US would also continue to fight IS during the truce.
Speaking in a news conference in Washington he said,
“Let me make it crystal clear, there is no cessation of hostilities in the counter-ISIL [IS] campaign. Operations continue unabated.”
Aid
The relative calm on the ground around the capital of Syria, Damascus, meant that 10 aid lorries, equipped with blankets and hygiene supplies, could enter the suburb of Muadhamiya on Monday afternoon, according to Syrian Arab Red Cross officials.
The UN and its supporting groups aim to deliver aid to the rebel-held towns of Madaya and Zabadani, in the mountains north-west of Damascus, on Wednesday. As well as the towns of Foah and Kefraya, which are being controlled by the government, which are located in the northern province of Idlib.
Will The Truce Hold?
Mark Lowen, a BBC reporter that is currently in Gaziantep, near the Syrian/Turkey border, has reported about what is happening in Syria at the moment.
He has said that there is now a vital chance for the UN to get aid and food into besieged areas. Despite both the opposition backed by the West, and regime sides complaining of many violations of the truce over the weekend, including air strikes around Aleppo, the truce has generally held.
Although, it is uncertain whether the target was the Nusra Front, which is connected to al-Quaeda. This would not be considered a breach of the truce because it and the group known as Islamic State are not included in the terms of the ceasefire.
A rebel spokesman spoke about violations “here and there” but he also talked of a situation that is a great improvement on the previous one. Moscow also complained of incidents, but said that in general the truce was being enforced.
The fact that it has generally held over the weekend has defied expectations, but many people still doubt that it can last for a full two weeks.
There are also expectations that another air-drop will be attempted over the city of Deir al-Zour, in eastern Syria, where 200,000 people in locations held by the government are besieged by IS.
Under Siege
Due to high winds and parachute failures, pallets carrying 21 tonnes of food that were dropped last week either missed their target, or were damaged or went missing.
According to the UN upwards of 450,000 Syrians are trapped in 15 besieged towns as well as villages that are under siege. Meanwhile, 4.1 million others are living in hard-to-reach areas.
Greg Barrow of the World Food Programme told the BBC that:
“Some of these people have not been receiving assistance for months or even up to a year in some cases, so it’s really, really important that we get food in and other kinds of assistance,”
He also added that:
“We’re very concerned about the nutritional status of people living in those areas that have really been sealed off from the outside world,”
Incidents
The UN’s secretary general told reporters in Geneva that:
“by and large the cessation of hostilities is holding, even though we have experienced some incidents”.
He added that the taskforce monitoring the cessation of hostilities is,
“now trying to make sure that this does not spread any further and that this cessation of hostilities can continue.”
He also affirmed a letter was received from the main opposition umbrella group, the High Negotiations (HNC), in which it urged the UN to help,
“specify the territory covered by the truce to prevent hostilities in the designated inclusion zones”.
The HNC’s general coordinator, Riad Hijab, wrote that since Saturday seven barrel-bomb attacks had occurred, as well as 24 cases of artillery shelling and five cases of ground attacks by government forces, which resulted in a large amount of civilian deaths. Meanwhile, Russian warplanes had performed 26 air strikes on territory held by rebel forces conforming with the terms of the ceasefire on Sunday alone, he added.
He also issued a warning that more violations would endanger resuming UN-brokered talks, aiming to find a political solution to this conflict, that has spanned five years.
Though rebels denied the reports, state media claimed that armed groups had fired dozens of mortar rounds at government forces in Latakia province on Sunday.
This war has raged for the past five years, and has claimed thousands of lives, and destroyed a countless amount of homes, forcing millions to flee for their lives. If this truce holds, it could be a significant step towards peace, that could bring safety to millions. If it does not, then the war will continue, and many more people could lose their lives.
