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Russian Federation criticizes U.S. over bombing of Syrian army near Deir al-Zor

The closed-door consultations were called off after Moscow and Washington failed to agree over disclosing details of the ceasefire to the council.

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“Warplanes from the global anti-jihadist coalition carried out four air strikes today against Syrian forces surrounded by the Islamic State group in the Deir Ezzor air base”, the Army said in a statement.

It says “coalition forces would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit”.

“We are reaching a really terrifying conclusion for the whole world: That the White House is defending Islamic State”.

The ceasefire established in Syria has been violated 199 times since it came into force five days ago, a Russian defence ministry official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Russian Federation has accused Washington of failing to rein in the rebels, and on Saturday Putin asked why the United States has insisted on not releasing a written copy of the agreement.

The 15-member council met for an hour on Saturday evening after Russian Federation and a war monitoring group said coalition jets bombed a Syrian army position near Deir al-Zor airport.

The cease-fire took effect on Monday, and despite reports of violations, it has largely held.

The US, which backs some rebel groups in the civil war and Russian Federation, which supports troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, agreed to cool fighting from Monday, September 12.

The five-year Syrian civil war has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s population, drawing in global and regional powers, causing an worldwide refugee crisis and inspiring jihadist attacks around the world.

He said the United States, which backs some rebel groups, was more focused on retaining their military capacity than separating moderate and militant groups, a stated aim of the truce which began on Monday.

If the strikes were a targeting error, the ministry said the bombings were evidence of Washington’s refusal to consult Russian Federation over its military action in Syria.

The Syrian military said the deadly airstrike hit a base in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour that is surrounded by IS, allowing the extremists to advance and overrun Syrian army positions in the area.

However, Russia and Syrian state media said the Syrian army later recaptured positions it lost.

“This is a risky and bold attack against the Syrian state and army, and clear evidence that the United States and its allies support the terrorist group Daesh”, the army statement reported by the SANA official news agency said, referring to IS.

Insurgents have expressed doubt over the viability of the deal from the beginning.

Another term of the truce was to enable aid through to the worst-affected areas.

“We see attempts to regroup among these terrorists, to switch one label for another, one name for another and keep their military capacity”, he said in televised remarks.

After the Deir al-Zor air strike, it said Moscow had told the United States to rein in the Syrian opposition and make sure it did not launch a new offensive, adding that it had told Washington about a concentration of rebels north of Hama.

“The truce, as we have warned, and we told the [US] state department will not hold out”, the rebel official said, pointing to the continued presence of the United Nations aid convoy at the Turkish border.

17 Syrian rebel groups are exploiting the current cease-fire to regroup, BBC reported. Still, as NPR’s Merrit Kennedy reported, humanitarian efforts to deliver aid to besieged areas had stalled.

Diplomats said the International Syria Support Group backing the peace process could meet on Tuesday in NY, on the eve of the council meeting. He did not identify the planes’ country affiliation, but said they were part of the worldwide coalition. On Saturday the convoy remained at the Turkish border, awaiting permission to travel.

Both sides agreed on Friday to extend the truce, but each blames the other for delays in supplies getting through.

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The government said the road was being fired on by rebels, which they deny, so it could not give convoys a guarantee of safety.

A civil defence member carries an injured girl at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al Numan town in Idlib province Syria