Share

Syria military declares ceasefire over after claiming ‘armed terrorist groups’ violated agreement

By Monday, both the Syrian government and prominent opposition activists were speaking of the truce as if it had already failed.

Advertisement

It accused rebel groups of carrying out more than 300 truce violations across the country and of failing to “commit to a single element” of the deal.

A halt to fighting around Aleppo and the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid were key components of the fragile deal that took effect last Monday evening.

The military said the rebels squandered a “real chance” to end the country’s civil war, which is now in its sixth year. A planned delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo – one of the first steps in the deal – has been repeatedly postponed.

“Syria’s army announces the end of the freeze on fighting that began at 07:00 pm (1600 UTC) on September 12, 2016 in accordance with the U.S. -Russia agreement”, the general command of the armed forces said in a statement carried by Syria’s state-run SANA news agency.

“What is lacking in this instance is good faith and sincerity”, Ayrault told a news conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in NY.

Already widely violated since it took effect, the ceasefire came under added strain at the weekend when Russian Federation said jets from the USA -led coalition against Islamic State killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria.

British forces took part in a coalition air strike which the Syrian government claims killed dozens of its troops, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Ministry of Defence Russia has accused the U.S. of “defending” so-called Islamic State.

Ansari said Tehran will “give all possible support” to Syria in its war against terrorism.

It also wants to deliver to other areas which are hard to reach, but said it had not received necessary permission from the Syrian government.

Tensions between the USA and Russian Federation escalated after the raid by the American-led coalition killed dozens of Syrian soldiers.

Washington said it was working to extend the truce but called on Russian Federation to first clarify the Syrian army’s statement that it was over.

He didn’t explain whether this means Moscow is opting out of the cease-fire and giving the Syrian government the free hand to freely use force again.

“The current situation leaves much to be desired”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said, blasting the US-led strike on Syria’s army which he said “is still the only party respecting the ceasefire”.

The Syrian military said the airstrike enabled an ISIS advance on a hill overlooking the air base.

Syria’s military on Monday declared that the U.S.

A statement said the United Kingdom was “fully co-operating with the coalition investigation” and stressed that it “would not intentionally target Syrian military units”. The station said the airstrikes targeted IS positions in areas such as the Tharda Mountain, which overlooks the airport of the city of Deir el-Zour.

The Syrian army had wrested control of strategic hill tops from IS fighters near the targeted airbase.

On Monday, the United Kingdom confirmed that British aircraft – believed to be unmanned, remotely-piloted Reaper drones – had been involved in the strike, along with jets from Australia and Denmark.

A mistaken air raid by the USA -led coalition also killed 62 Syrian soldiers. The accord calls for a nationwide truce, but that excludes attacks on the Islamic State and a former al-Qaida affiliate, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

Uncertainties are prevailing about the truce, which is now in its seventh day.

“Did pretty well last night; trucks are moving today to maybe eight locations or more”, Kerry said, according to The New York Times.

But after several days of relative calm, fighting escalated across major battlefronts, culminating in a deadly US-led air raid at the weekend on a Syrian army position and fresh strikes on Aleppo.

USA forces are now effectively embedded with the Turkish military and YPG operating in northern Syria, and aim to encourage both groups to fight their common enemy, ISIS, instead of each other.

The Danish Armed Forces say it is “regrettable if the coalition mistakenly hit” government forces instead of IS militants.

A shaky Syrian ceasefire expired after a day of aerial attacks on rebel-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo and a southern village in the worst day of violence since it began a week before.

The opposition reported 254 violations by government forces and their allies since the truce started on September 12 and a senior Syrian opposition official declared the cease-fire “clinically dead”. Syrian officials cited repeated ceasefire violations on behalf of US-backed rebels.

Earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed hope that the cease-fire could still hold even after the Syrian military’s announcement and took aim at Russian Federation for not doing enough to pressure Assad’s government to comply.

The U.N. aid chief said an aid convoy destined for rebel-held eastern Aleppo was still stuck in Turkey.

Advertisement

The security council was set to discuss whether or not to endorse the Syria cease-fire agreement, but Russian Federation and the United States, who orchestrated the deal, reportedly could not agree on which particulars to present.

Turkish president announces new push on Syria IS stronghold