UN envoy for Syria says cease-fire is holding

Mar 05, 2016, 00:46

GENEVA The United States is working with Russian Federation to improve access to besieged areas in Syria and to stop the Syrian government from removing medical supplies from aid convoys, a senior US official said on Wednesday.

However, he maintained that incidents of fighting "have been contained".

On December 25, several missiles struck Baghdad Hospital in Hreitan, a town north of Aleppo City, killing a medical worker, and injuring 10 staff and 20 patients, a doctor and another medical worker told Amnesty International. A report by the group a year ago said the Syrian government "systematically violated" the principle of medical neutrality by targeting medical facilities and doctors, detaining patients, and arresting, torturing, and executing doctors.

Lavrov said there were attempts to "present it like the regime was imposed for two weeks".

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Mistura says he has set a "penciled date" of next Wednesday for Syrian peace talks to resume in the Swiss city, noting that "logistical" troubles like the Geneva Auto Show could reduce the number of available hotel rooms.

The leaders of Russia, Germany, Britain and France are planning to speak Friday about ways to shore up the Syria cease-fire.

France said there were reports of attacks on opposition forces in breach of the deal, which came into force on Saturday, and countries backing the Syrian peace process met to try to clarify the situation.

Syria's ceasefire has shown clear signs of progress, the top United Nations envoy for the war-ravaged country said on Thursday, but he warned there was no guarantee it would succeed. Blackouts have been frequent in the course of the conflict but it's rare for the whole country to be affected.

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Later, state-run news agency SANA said Internet services were also partially halted on Thursday as a result of damage to one of the network hubs.

Russian Federation and the United States reached an agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria on February 22.

The source said the attack led to the injury of four journalists, a Russian, Chinese, Bulgarian and Canadian, who were covering the cessation of hostilities in northern Latakia.

In the buildup to the partial cease-fire that came into effect Friday, Aleppo witnessed some of the country's fiercest fighting when government forces backed by Russian airstrikes cut off a rebel supply route from Turkey.

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Amnesty says the attacks on medical facilities aimed to pave the way for pro-government ground forces to advance on northern Aleppo.