The U.N. said on Wednesday (May 4) it welcomed a statement released by the United States that it had agreed with Russia to extend a cessation of hostilities to include Aleppo, where intense day-long violence between Syrian rebels and government forces killed dozens of people.
At a special Security Council session convened to discuss the situation in Aleppo, U.N. political chief Jeffrey Feltman urged “parties to abide by this immediately and comprehensively”.
Feltman said reports of violence in recent days and the “horrifying image of attacks on hospitals and government and opposition-held neighborhoods of the city” are considered war crimes. He urged the council to consider Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s call for referring the case to the International Criminal Court.
Feltman said a consolidated truce and greater humanitarian aid access were needed to ensure the next round of Syria peace talks – set for this month – were credible.
The surge in bloodshed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and biggest strategic prize, wrecked the first major “cessation of hostilities” agreement of the war, sponsored by Washington and Moscow, which had held since February.
U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien told the 15-member council that life for the people in Aleppo was horrendous and they were “living under daily threat and terror”.
In battles between rebels and government forces in western Aleppo, opposition forces said they were forced to retreat by heavy aerial bombing.
There was no immediate response from Moscow to the announcement of an agreement, but the Syrian army said it would implement a “regime of calm” in Aleppo for 48 hours as of Thursday (May 5).
At the U.N. Security Council meeting Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said an agreement would have been announced on Tuesday (May 3) but opposition attacks in Aleppo had prevented it from happening.
He said the Syrian government forces are “fighting off a large scale offensive by the jihadists”.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said blame for the hostilities lies primarily with the Syrian government. She urged Russia and Iran to use their influence to press Syria to meet its commitments.
Also at the Security Council meeting, the United Kingdom proposed releasing a statement that would show the world and people of Aleppo that
the council is unified on this issue.
“To choose to do nothing in the face of such barbarity …would be tantamount to collusion with the very forces destroying Aleppo,” said U.K. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.