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UN Syria envoy calls for immediate Aleppo aid delivery

Saturday, 27 August 2016 5:07 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 27 August 2016 5:06 PM ]

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura © AFP

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo.

De Mistura said in a statement on Saturday that Syria’s warring sides should agree by Sunday on a 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo to allow the safe delivery of the first relief supplies to the embattled city.

The UN official called for “all concerned to exert every effort so that, by this Sunday, 28 August 2016, we know where we stand.”

He said that for logistical and operational reasons the first convoy must go via the strategic Castello Road, the only road to the government-held areas of Aleppo.

The UN aid chief, Stephen O'Brien, told the Security Council on Monday that the world body is prepared to start delivering aid to the embattled city, but it first needs commitments from all warring parties.

On Thursday, Russia announced that it was ready to support a proposal by the UN for weekly 48-hour ceasefires in Aleppo.

Aleppo has been divided since 2012 between government forces in the west and militants in the east. Syrian forces have been engaged in a major operation to liberate the militant-held areas of the city.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.

Over 400,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the conflict, according to De Mistura.

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