UN envoy deplores dire humanitarian situation in Syria as fighting rages

The UN Special Envoy for Syria sent a strong message Thursday by calling off this morning's humanitarian taskforce meeting after only 8 minutes because of the lack of progress on the ground and ongoing fighting between factions vying for control of the war-torn country.

"Today I suspended the meeting as a symbol of deep concern and as a sign of respect towards the World Humanitarian Day tomorrow," Staffan de Mistura explained after the shortest ever meeting between humanitarian taskforce members who convene here on a weekly basis.

"It is also a sign of deep unhappiness about the fact that due to the lack of a pause (in fighting) no humanitarian aid is reaching anywhere in Syria at the moment except Deir-ez-Zor," he added.

The situation in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, where two million civilians are trapped, is particularly alarming, the envoy warned.

According to the diplomat, rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo are besieged and western Aleppo is on track of becoming so.

The situation in what was once Syria's largest city and economic hub only compounds the dire humanitarian situation in the country at war since 2011.

"Not one single convoy in one month has reached any of the humanitarian besieged areas," De Mistura reported.

Ongoing fighting between factions loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups seeking to oust him has meant that humanitarian actors have been unable to assist those in need.

Latest UN figures reveal that since relief operations kicked off in February this year, 1,275,750 people have received multi-sectoral aid, far short of what the UN had hoped to achieve by now.

De Mistura recalled the urgent need to install a 48-hour truce in Aleppo to give humanitarian convoys enough time to achieve meaningful aid deliveries. Endit