UN renews call for humanitarian pause in Syria

A cessation of hostilities between warring factions is especially crucial for war-ravaged Aleppo, senior adviser to the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Jan Egeland, reiterated Thursday.

"We need a pause for the sake of the population of east Aleppo," Jan Egeland told reporters.

"At the moment those who try to go through crossing points are caught in crossfire, shelling and risk being hit by snipers...it is a very intense battle scene," he added.

Once Syria's commercial hub, Aleppo has been divided in two since 2012, with western parts under Syrian government control and eastern districts held by rebels seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

A military operation launched by Damascus on Nov. 24 broke the deadlock however, with Syrian government troops seizing some 75 percent of eastern Aleppo.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last Friday that ensuing fighting resulted in the displacement of 31,500 civilians.

With frontlines changing on a daily basis, the diplomat warned that many of those left in rebel-held districts are now crammed in an enclave only 25 percent the size of the area previously controlled by opposition groups.

Egeland also blamed the UN's diminishing access on the ground to reach civilians living in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, including east Aleppo, on the lack of a "united humanitarian diplomacy."

He said the UN stood ready to send much-needed food and medical supplies to what is left of rebel-held east Aleppo as soon as all parties to the conflict provide sufficient safety guarantees. Endit