Syria’s week-long cease-fire, brokered by the United States and Russian Federation, was in doubt Monday amid repeated violations and with no aid deliveries to the besieged rebel-held part of the northern city of Aleppo, a key point in the truce agreement.
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The State Department said it was ready to work with Russian Federation to strengthen the terms of the agreement and expand deliveries of humanitarian aid but added that Russian Federation must clarify its position on the status of the cease-fire.
Assad emphasized the importance of support provided by Russian Federation and Iran during Syria’s war against terrorism.
“The truce was supposed to be a real chance to stop the bloodshed, but the armed terrorist groups flouted this agreement”, Monday’s army statement said.
“Our arrangement is with Russian Federation, which is responsible for the Syrian regime’s compliance, so we expect Russian Federation to clarify their position”, state department spokesman John Kirby said.
The United Nations says it still lacks sufficient security guarantees from both sides to deliver aid to eastern Aleppo, the rebel-held half of the city which has been divided for years and which pro-government forces completely encircled this month.
The United States has accepted its aircraft may have accidentally hit a Syrian government position during an attack on Islamic State (IS) which is not covered by the ceasefire agreement.
Loyalist forces backed by Russian and Syrian warplanes were fighting to roll back IS’s advance there, a military source told AFP on Monday. There had been a measure of reduced violence since the truce was agreed but not seven consecutive days of calm as called for under the deal, Kirby added.
“I am pained and disappointed that a United Nations convoy has yet to cross into Syria from Turkey, and safely reach eastern Aleppo”, U.N. Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien said in a statement.
Rudskoy said that the week-long truce had been violated 302 times and that 63 civilians had been killed.
State Department spokesman John Kirby called the convoy attack an “egregious violation” of the cease-fire and said the U.S. “We have not had seven days of calm and of delivery of humanitarian goods”, Kerry said.
“We strongly urge Washington to exert the needed pressure on the illegal armed groups under its patronage to implement the cease-fire plan unconditionally”. So we need to see what the Russians say; but the point, the important thing is the Russians need to control (Syrian President Bashar) Assad, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys. Russian Federation accused the US of threatening the cease-fire, calling the future of the deal “a very big question mark”. The U.S. even informed Russian Federation of its intention to strike the target, and received no objection.
The U.S. military has said it may have unintentionally struck Syrian troops while carrying out a raid against the Islamic State group on Saturday.
Jebel Tharda is where on Saturday U.S. -led coalition air strikes reportedly killed dozens of Syrian soldiers, endangering a U.S. Rebels said that plan would amount to the government declaring the truce over.
Earlier Sunday, Islamic State militants shot down a Syrian warplane as Syrian forces regained ground lost to the extremists following Saturday’s airstrike, state media said.
“We can confirm that the United Kingdom participated in the coalition air strike south of Deir el-Zour on Saturday, and we are fully co-operating with the coalition investigation”, the MoD spokesman said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported civilian deaths from airstrikes in Idlib on Friday and in Aleppo on Sunday, though it didn’t identify the perpetrators.
Damascus’ major ally Moscow insists that Syrian forces have fully respected the truce – which is meant to end hostilities and ensure aid deliveries – but that rebels have kept up bombardments.
The United States, Russia, the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition have all traded allegations of truce violations. Russian Federation said the attacks were performed by two F-16 fighter jets and two A-10 support aircraft. “Instead it worked to undermine it with organized violations during the week as well as preventing aid from reaching Aleppo”, the group said in a statement sent to reporters.
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Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over Syria, as well as the USA -led coalition that is targeting the Islamic State group.
