GENEVA : The U.N. envoy for Syria has cut short a meeting of its humanitarian aid task force amid continued fighting that has prevented aid deliveries to besieged areas for at least a month.
Staffan de Mistura said he halted the weekly meeting after only eight minutes Thursday saying there was "no sense" in having one because of the delay in aid deliveries.
De Mistura reiterated his call for a 48-hour pause in the fighting, notably in the northern city of Aleppo, to help allow for deliveries and asked for a "gesture of humanity from both sides."
The envoy said he plans to reconvene the humanitarian task force next week and believes the task force's co-chairs — Russia and the United States — still want a nonmilitary solution to Syria's conflict.