Shells and bombs rained down on rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Monday soon after Syria’s army declared an end to a week-long ceasefire agreed between Russian Federation and the United States.
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But he added: “Our arrangement is with Russian Federation, which is responsible for the Syrian regime’s compliance, so we expect Russian Federation to clarify their position”. Those seven days of calm and aid deliveries were required before the US and Russian Federation could embark on a plan to cooperate in targeting the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliates working in Syria.
He said US and Russian officials were meeting in Geneva to try to sort out aid deliveries to Aleppo and other besieged communities.
The State Department said it was prepared to extend the ceasefire window in the hopes that if it held, the U.S. and Russian Federation could then turn to their planned military cooperation against the Islamic State militants and al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria.
Also Tuesday, the Observatory said government forces launched an offensive in the Handarat area, just north of the city of Aleppo, in what appears to be an attempt to tighten the siege on rebel-held parts of Syria’s largest city.
Despite numerous violations by the government and Syrian rebels, the US has few other options for ending a conflict that has killed a half-million people, contributed to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global threat.
Syria’s nascent ceasefire hung in the balance Monday after an airstrike on a United Nations aid convoy led the USA to question Russia’s commitment to calming violence in the war-torn country and its ability to influence its ally in Damascus.
President Barack Obama has made clear the United States will use military force only against IS and other extremist organisations, and not against Syrian president Bashar Assad’s government.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, centre, sits with United Nations envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, right, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the International Syria Support Group meeting in NY today.
Sunday was another deadly day as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 11 civilians were killed in areas where the ceasefire was supposed to have taken hold. American officials said, however, that conditions were still not right for U.S.
Turkeys’ president has announced a new push by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels aimed at capturing a town held by the Islamic State group.
Earlier, Moscow appeared to bury hopes that the truce would last. He said a member of the High Negotiations Committee belonging to an armed opposition group had been assigned to protect the convoy and had witnessed Monday’s attack. Goals were modest, focused on holding onto what might be salvageable from a week-old truce that had at least temporarily reduced the bloodshed.
Syrian children slide down rubble of destroyed a building in the rebel-held city of Daraa, in southwestern Syria on September 12, 2016 as Muslims mark the first day of Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) holiday.
Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to United Nations figures.
Russia said it was “deeply concerned”, warning that Washington would have to rein in rebels fighting Assad “otherwise, the realisation of Russia-US agreements. could be put in danger”.
Rudskoi said the rebels violated the truce 302 times since it took effect a week ago, killing 63 civilians and 153 Syrian soldiers.
A member of the Syrian Civil Defence – a group of volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets – criticized the United Nations humanitarian aid agency for suspending the convoys. But he said some aid was finally moving.
Denmark says two of its F-16 fighter jets took part in the USA -led air raid that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers over the weekend. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the failure of Syrian rebels to adhere to the truce “threatens the cease-fire and U.S. But the armed terrorist groups didn’t take it seriously and didn’t commit to any of its articles”, the military command statement said.
But both the Syrian army and the rebels spoke openly of returning to the battlefield.
Kirby noted that the cease-fire arrangement was agreed to by the United States and Russian Federation, which is responsible for the compliance of the Assad government.
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The Syrian and Russian militaries both denied on Tuesday they were involved in the attack.
