Aleppo Battle: UN Stops Aid as 40% of City’s East Liberated

Local Editor

The Russian Defense Ministry urged the United Nations [UN] to get down to work and provide real humanitarian aid to the residents of Aleppo instead of merely talking about it.

The UN had not provided humanitarian assistance to the liberated parts of eastern Aleppo, Syria, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday.

Unfortunately, there is no UN humanitarian relief in the liberated areas of eastern Aleppo," Konashenkov said.

He said that the ministry was unaware of some 30,000 residents who fled eastern Aleppo receiving humanitarian assistance, as estimated by UN special envoy for Syria Jan Egeland on Thursday.

Konashenkov voiced hope that Egeland would "instead of unsubstantiated allegations finally embark on real work of providing humanitarian aid to the residents of eastern Aleppo."

The UN had stopped its proposals of humanitarian aid deliveries after Syrian Army forces liberated 40 percent of eastern Aleppo neighborhoods, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

"After the liberation by government troops of more than 40 percent of the city's eastern districts, home to about 90,000 inhabitants, all proposals for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Aleppo stopped," Konashenkov said.

In a related development, the Syrian Army's success in Aleppo makes militants' guns fall silent across the country, Russia's reconciliation center said.

Syrian Army troops assumed full control of a city on the southwestern outskirts of Damascus and 13 nearby villages in the past 24 hours, the Syria-based Russian reconciliation center said Friday.

"Against the backdrop of Syrian army successes in the liberation of eastern districts of Aleppo from armed groups, militants stop fighting in other parts of Syria," the center said.

It further added, "Since December 1, 2016, the city of Khan Alsheh 15 kilometers [9 miles] from Damascus and 13 surrounding settlements have come under the full control of the Syrian authorities."

Syria has been in a state of war since 2011, with government forces repelling attack by terrorist groups fighting in Syria.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team