At least 18 of 31 trucks in a United Nations and Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy – delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the hard-to-reach town of Urm al-Kubra – were hit west of Aleppo. As a result, 63 civilians were killed and 252 more were wounded.
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UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien said he was “pained and disappointed” that the convoy had yet to cross into Syria from Turkey.
“It is outrageous that it was hit while offloading at warehouses”, he added.
The report could not be independently verified.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault strongly condemned the strike, saying the destruction of the aid convoy underscored “the urgency of a cessation of hostilities in Syria”.
“The situation on the ground is very chaotic at present, and we are still getting details”, Ryan stressed.
The United States declared Monday that Russian Federation had failed to meet its side of a deal to enforce a seven-day truce in Syria, but that Washington was willing to keep working on it.
He had earlier described the truce as “holding but fragile”.
In the wake of the Syrian military declaration, US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed annoyance at Damascus and Moscow’s handling of the ceasefire.
Syria’s almost week-old cease-fire was facing a crucial deadline on Monday as the Syrian army said the truce could expire later in the day after a particularly bloody weekend.
A meeting of the 23-nation International Syrian Support Group was called for Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in NY to build support for the truce.
The seven-day ceasefire declared by the Syrian army expired at midnight with no announcement of its extension.
Activists and rebel groups also accuse the government of violating the cease-fire.
Kerry, Lavrov and ministers from the 23-nation ISSG are to meet Tuesday alongside the UN General Assembly in NY to decide what steps to take next for peace.
Riad Hijab, who has been chosen by Syrian opposition groups as co-ordinator of a negotiating body to lead future peace talks, said there was never a ceasefire in the first place over which an assessment of its success or failure could be made.
After multiple violations reported by both sides, the country’s military said the agreement was at an end in a statement today.
But he said some aid was finally moving. The convoy brought in food, water and hygiene supplies for up to 84,000 people, it said.
The Observatory said aid trucks making a routine delivery organised by an global organisation to an area west of Aleppo city were hit near the town of Urm al-Kubra.
“This regime of calm was supposed to be a real opportunity to stop the bloodshed, but the armed terrorist groups flouted this agreement”, the army said in a statement.
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Assad called that incident “flagrant aggression”, while Washington called it a mistake. Washington has called it a mistake.
