The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Saturday evening on Syria after the US -led coalition staged airstrikes on Syrian military positions, diplomatic sources told Xinhua.
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BEIRUT (AP) – Aid convoys for Syria’s war-ravaged city of Aleppo were delayed Friday for the fourth day as the United States and Russian Federation, sponsors of a Syria cease-fire deal, traded accusations over who was to blame.
There have been fears that the USA military could accidentally strike Syrian or Russian forces since the air campaign against Islamic State began more than two years ago.
The truce has largely held, despite dozens of alleged violations by both sides.
The Syrian army also accused US -led coalition aircraft of bombing a Syrian military position near the military airport of Deir-al-Zor, located in Syria’s east.
Earnest says most indications are that violence has dropped significantly in Syria due to the new U.S. -Russia deal.
US officials said its forces had hit Islamic State, or ISIL, forces in the same area in the past and had been tracking them for a significant amount of time before the latest strike.
He said IS militants surrounding the air base launched an attack on the Syrian army positions after the air strike.
A United Nations convoy of 20 trucks has crossed the Turkish border into a buffer zone with food and other supplies destined for the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo, but it has also been held up, though for a different reason: An agreement to separate the forces along the road into the city had yet to take effect, de Mistura said.
Moscow and Washington agreed last week to use their influence on the Syrian government and the so-called moderate rebel forces respectively to establish a ceasefire in the war-torn country.
The Syrian government has not provided needed “facilitation letters”, or permits, to allow for the start of the convoys, de Mistura said.
Central Command said Syria is a complex situation, with a variety of military forces and militias in close proximity, and that coalition forces would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit.
Vladimir Savchenko said late on Thursday the Syrian government had done so to ensure the delivery of humanitarian supplies into rebel-held east Aleppo.
In a statement, the Russian defence ministry accused what it termed “moderate rebels” of causing the ceasefire to fail. Nonetheless, the failure by United States forces to appropriately target highlights the necessity of the ceasefire arrangement which called for the USA and Russian Federation to ultimately coordinate their strikes.
A senior rebel in Aleppo warned the truce “will not hold out” as some fighting persisted and aid failed to come through.
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If the ceasefire holds for seven days, Russian Federation and the U.S. would then coordinate military planning to destroy the Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al Nusra militias.
