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United States may have hit Syrian troops in raid on militants
Warplanes strafed or bombed rebel-held areas in Maarat al-Numan, Saraqeb and Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib, Teir Maalah, north of Homs, and Souha, east of Hama, overnight after other strikes earlier on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
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“Warplanes from the global anti-jihadi coalition carried out four airstrikes today against Syrian forces surrounded by the Islamic State group in the Deir el-Zour air base”, the Russian army said in a statement.
Syrian activists said government forces have meanwhile killed five civilians.
The truce has largely held since going into effect on Monday, but both sides have alleged dozens of violations, and aid convoys have been unable to enter rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo – a key opposition demand.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday questioned the USA commitment to a shaky cease-fire in Syria, suggesting that Washington wasn’t prepared to break with “terrorist elements” battling Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned why the United States did not want to release a document of the ceasefire, which led to a UN Security Council meeting on the ceasefire to be canceled.
Syria’s conflict has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced half the country’s population since March 2011.
“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. It controls the airport and pockets of the city but is otherwise surrounded by IS.
The Syrian military said the air strikes enabled an Islamic State advance on a hill overlooking the air base.
Under the terms of the shaky ceasefire, U.S. and Russian Federation are to coordinate against IS and other terrorist groups if the truce is successful and aid deliveries are to be allowed into besieged areas.
The United States has said moderate rebel groups must disassociate from Fatah al-Sham Front or face consequences.
“There is no change”, Zakariya Malahifji, an official for a rebel group in Aleppo, said on Saturday when asked whether there had been any move by the army to withdraw from positions along the road.
Syria’s government said on Saturday it was doing everything necessary for the arrival of aid to those in need in all parts of the country, rebutting comments by top United Nations officials that Damascus was hindering access.
Two convoys of aid for Aleppo have been waiting at the Turkish border for days.
The government said the road was being fired on by rebels, so it could not give convoys a guarantee of safety. The rebels deny the accusation.
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Senior U.N. officials have accused the government of failing to provide letters to allow convoys to reach other besieged areas in Syria.