Syria cease-fire is holding despite some fighting
Staffan de Mistura spoke as he convened a group monitoring the truce amid hopes of a breakthrough that could pave the way for regular humanitarian aid deliveries to remote and besieged areas that have been cut off by the fighting.
The cease-fire is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to help end a five-war that has killed at least 250,000 people, driven millions of Syrians to flee the country, and given an opening to militants such as the extremist Islamic State group and the Al-Nusra Front, as Syria’s al Qaeda branch is known, to seize large swaths of land.
The two militant factions and other extremists groups that have been designated terrorist organizations by the United Nations are not included in the diplomatic initiatives.
The advocacy group said it has “compelling evidence” of at least six deliberate attacks on medical facilities in the Aleppo governorate in the past 12 weeks, which killed at least three civilians, including a medical worker, and wounded 44.