UN gears up for Syria aid deliveries

The United Nations prepared on Monday to deliver aid to thousands of besieged civilians in Syria as a fragile ceasefire entered its third day largely intact despite accusations of violations.
UN humanitarian coordinator Yacoub El Hillo said the world body hoped to take advantage of the first major truce in five years of conflict to distribute supplies to an extra 154,000 people living in besieged areas over the next five days.
The UN estimates more than 480,000 Syrians live in areas besieged by government forces, rebels or militants of the Daesh group or Al Qaeda.
An convoy carrying medical supplies and blankets was due to head to the town of Moadamiyet Al Sham, surrounded by regime forces south of Damascus, on Monday, a UN source told.
It would be the first aid delivery since the ceasefire began on Saturday.
UN envoy Staffan de Mistura aims to relaunch negotiations on March 7 if the ceasefire lasts and more aid is delivered.
The main opposition grouping on Sunday described the ceasefire as "positive" but lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations and foreign governments about breaches. "We have violations here and there, but in general it is a lot better than before and people are comfortable," said Salem Al Meslet, spokesman for the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee.
Meslet said the opposition would like to see the truce "last forever" and that it was the "responsibility of the United States to stop any violations".
An HNC letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused the Syrian regime and its allies of committing two dozen truce violations that had killed 29 people and wounded dozens. The HNC has said it has been kept in the dark about the truce's monitoring mechanism.
The ceasefire does not apply to territory held by the Daesh group and Al Qaeda affiliate Al Nusra Front.
Daesh militants last week cut the government's sole supply route to territory it holds in and around second city Aleppo. After several days of deadly clashes, the army succeeded in reopening it on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. At least 26 pro-government fighters and 14 Daesh militants were killed in the fighting around the town of Khanasser, the Britain-based monitoring group said.
Russia, which has waged a five-month bombing campaign to support President Bashar Al Assad, accused "moderate" rebels and militants of nine ceasefire violations. But "on the whole, the ceasefire regime in Syria is being implemented," Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko, head of Moscow's coordination centre in Syria, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the main measures for putting a stop to hostilities were now in place.
"We knew ahead of time that this would not be easy," he told reporters. In Aleppo, the Observatory reported some rebel rocket fire on government-held neighbourhoods early on Monday but no casualties.
 

• MENA