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"The evacuations
were obstructed by various factors, including delays in
receiving the necessary approvals from local authorities in
eastern Aleppo, conditions placed by non-state armed groups and
the government of Syria's objection to allowing medical and
other relief supplies into the eastern part of the city," U.N.
Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs and emergency
relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien said in a statement on
Monday.
O'Brien said no patients and family members were evacuated
during the three-day Russian unilateral ceasefire last week
which ended on Saturday with a resumption of air strikes and a
surge in ground fighting.
"I am outraged that the fate of vulnerable civilians – sick and
injured people, children and the elderly, all in need of
critical and life-saving support – rests mercilessly in the
hands of parties who have consistently and unashamedly failed to
put them above narrow political and military interests," he
said.
The U.N. has been unable to access east Aleppo since July, when
Syrian government and allied forces put the eastern part of the
city under siege.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
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