The UN senior advisor Jan Egeland, who heads the UN humanitarian task force, said Thursday that the UN was denied access to five areas besieged by Assad regime in Damascus countryside, including the Wadi Barada valley.
Even when the regime approves UN aid plans, humanitarian convoys get blocked by a “hopeless bureaucratic quagmire”, Egeland said.
He added the convoys would have to secure facilitation letters, permits, security permits, permission from Assad governors, permission from Assad security apparatus and permission from Assad security committees.
Egeland said the UN was “extremely concerned” about Wadi Barada where many were killed and thousands were displaced from their homes. He added that 5.5 million people in Damascus and its countryside remained without water supplies for the 27th day.
The Wadi Barada valley, located 18 kilometres northwest of Damascus, has been under heavy bombing and artillery shelling by Hezbollah and Assad regime for the past 29 days. The attacks killed many civilians and caused widespread damage to property, including the vital Ein Al-Fijeh spring facility which provides much of Damascus and its countryside with water.
The Astana talks are scheduled to be held on the 23rd of this month (January). The negotiations are brokered by Turkey and Russia and are intended to bolster the Syria ceasefire that was declared in Ankara last December.
A countrywide ceasefire in Syria was declared on Thursday (29 December 2016), after Turkey, Russia and opposition fighting groups reached a deal in the Turkish capital Ankara. According to the deal, Turkey and Russia would act as guarantor countries for the implementation of the ceasefire.
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