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John Kerry admits Syria ceasefire over as violence increases

The rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring body described raids by sophisticated jets that they said must belong to Russian Federation.

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Rebel officials and rescue workers said incendiary bombs were among the weapons that rained from the sky on the city.

Kerry declared “we can not continue on the same path any longer” but said he had given Russia another chance to come up with “immediate and significant steps” to stop violence, including the end of Russian and Syrian government bombing of opposition areas. Hamza al-Khatib, the director of a hospital in the rebel-held east, told Reuters the death toll was 45.

But the meeting of the International Syria Support Group broke up after Russian Federation refused U.S. demands that it promise to immediately ground the Syrian regime’s air force.

The head of the civil defence rescue service in eastern Aleppo, Ammar al Selmo, identified the aircraft flying over the city as Russian and said: “What’s happening now is annihilation”.

But frustration over recent developments, including the Syrian military’s announcement of a new offensive in Aleppo, suggested that chances were slim for success.

A frustrated John Kerry called for “immediate” and “significant” action from Russian Federation and Syria to prove their commitment to a ceasefire agreement reached this month.

“With respect to the air or artillery strikes, they may continue for some time depending on the field situation and the terrorists’ losses”, the source said. The agreement, however, disintegrated after only one week when an aid convoy was bombed on Monday.

Sep 23, 2016- The Syrian military has announced a new offensive in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, where a quarter of a million people are living under siege.

Moscow and Washington announced the ceasefire plan earlier this month, but the agreement collapsed after the Syrian opposition accused the Assad regime of failing to withdraw from key areas to allow aid through, including the Castello Road.

After the meeting broke up, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington could not be the only party trying to hold open the door to peace, while the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, called on the Syrian opposition to compromise.

Several residents said explosions had struck with far greater force than anything that had hit the city in the past, making bigger craters and bringing entire buildings down.

The government already controls the city’s western half, where fewer people have fled.

Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial and industrial hub, has been divided roughly in two since 2012, with the government controlling the west and rebels the east.

Kerry added that he is “no less determined today than I was yesterday, but I am even more frustrated”.

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But on Thursday night, Moscow and Washington failed to find a way to revive the short-lived cease-fire during what United Nations special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura called a “long, painful, difficult, and disappointing meeting”.

Russia Says Coalition Drone Was in Area When Syria Aid Convoy