Pretoria - UN relief chief Valerie Amos has welcomed the extension of the humanitarian pause in Syria's old Homs city, a UN spokesperson said.
Amos, the Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, welcomed the news that the parties to the conflict have agreed to extend the humanitarian pause in old Homs city for a further three days, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said at a daily news briefing.
"I hope this will allow us to evacuate yet more civilians and deliver much needed additional supplies. The protection of civilians caught up in this horrendous conflict in Syria is the greatest priority for UN agencies and humanitarian partners," Amos said in a statement.
The humanitarian pause, which was recently concluded between Damascus and the UN, had barely begun with the evacuation of 83 people on Friday when sniper and other fire temporarily interrupted the process.
This continued throughout the weekend, deliberately targeting UN and Syrian Red Crescent workers and leading to the deaths of 11 people, even as more than 800 people were eventually evacuated from the old city and some vital food and medical supplies made their way in, according to the UN.
Homs Governor Talal Barazi said that most of the evacuees were women, children and old men, who would receive proper care and medical treatment, adding that the evacuation could continue for the next three days.
"It is absolutely unacceptable that UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid workers were deliberately targeted," Amos said, highlighting the "extremely dangerous circumstances" in which aid workers have been operating.
"The international community must press for full accountability of the Syrian government and opposition forces, and demand that the ceasefire is held so that all who want to leave can do so safely," she said.
Amos noted that humanitarian pauses were vital to allow aid to be delivered and people to leave in communities which have been blockaded for months, but "it is very important that they are not a one-off event".
"As a political solution is sought to end this crisis, I hope that those negotiating in Geneva agree to allow the sustained delivery of aid to the 250 000 people in besieged communities in Syria and all those who are in desperate need across Syria," she said.
UN-sponsored talks between the Syrian government and opposition resumed on Monday, 10 days after a first round ended with little progress, in efforts to end the conflict which erupted between President Bashar al-Assad and various groups seeking his ouster nearly three years ago.
The basis of the talks is full implementation of an action plan adopted in the so-called Geneva Communique of 2012, the first international conference on the conflict, calling for a transitional government to lead to free and fair elections to end the civil war in which well over 100 000 people have been killed and nearly nine million others driven from their homes. – SAnews.gov.za-Xinhua
