UN Syria Envoy Calls For Speedy Aid to Aleppo

The United Nations Envoy for Syria called for all warring parties in Aleppo to agree by Sunday on a green light that would allow a safe delivery of relief supplies to the divided city of Aleppo. Staffan de Mistura said in a statement that for “logistical and operational” reasons, the first convoy must go via the Castello Road during a 48-hour humanitarian pause. That road is controlled by the government and in the past the rebels have said they do not want to use that route.
“The Special Envoy calls for all concerned to exert every effort so that, by this Sunday, 28 August 2016, we know where we stand,” de Mistura said. The estimated 300,000 civilians still in Aleppo have been trapped between the warring sides and monitors have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis and an urgent need for a temporary truce to allow basic supplies into the country. Meanwhile, a group monitoring the Syrian civil war said Turkish air strikes and artillery attacks killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens more on a village in northern Syria. Turkey has stepped up its attacks on Kurdish groups there.