Medical evacuations planned in east Aleppo for Friday have been delayed, the UN said, after warring parties in the devastated Syrian city failed to give necessary security assurances.
"Medical evacuations of sick and injured could unfortunately not begin this morning as planned because the necessary conditions were not in place," said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian office.
The head of the UN's humanitarian taskforce for Syria, Jan Egeland, said Thursday that all the "green lights" needed to start medical evacuations on Friday had been given, including from the rebels that control east Aleppo, Syria's government and its key backer Russia.
But Laerke told reporters those "assurances as to the security conditions" had not been provided and that emergency relief workers had so far been unable to deploy from positions in government-controlled west Aleppo.
"This is an astronomically difficult operation," he said.
Aleppo scene of 'historic' crimes
The UN human rights council opened a special session on Syria's devastated city Aleppo on Friday, with rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein demanding action against "crimes of historic proportions".
The session, called by Britain, is seeking a resolution condemning gross abuses especially in Aleppo's rebel-held east where an estimated 250,000 civilians are besieged by a brutal government offensive backed by Russia.
"The siege and bombardment of eastern Aleppo, are not simply tragedies; they also constitute crimes of historic proportions," Zeid said.
Calling Syria's more than five-year civil war "a proxy conflict", he urged parties to the fighting to set aside "global gamesmanship".
The head of the United Nations's commission of inquiry for Syria, Paulo Pinheiro, reiterated a call for the International Criminal Court to probe violations in the war-ravaged country.
While rights council resolutions are non-binding, regime ally Russia is expected to push back against any draft strongly condemning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government.
The session, also supported by France, Germany and the United States as well as Assad rival Turkey, is aiming to adopt a resolution later Friday.
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