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Fighting resumes in Syria following end of ceasefire

The attacks marked the collapse of a partial ceasefire agreement that went into effect a week earlier following an agreement brokered by the United States and Russian Federation.

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The Russian military said rebels launched a major attack on a government position on Aleppo’s southwestern outskirts, forcing Syrian troops to respond.

A United Nations aid convoy was struck while trying to reach civilians in Syria on Tuesday (AEST), as the country’s military declared an end to a week-old cease-fire brokered by Russian Federation and the United States.

But a member of the Syrian Civil Defense – a group of volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets – criticized the United Nations humanitarian aid agency for suspending the convoys.

The Syrian military said the coalition aircraft had hit a base which was surrounded by IS – enabling the militants to overrun their positions.

From the start, the truce had been beset by difficulties and mutual accusations of violations.

But most aid shipments were still waiting to go in. Both sides accused each other of violating the truce.

The attack could only have been carried out by Bashar al-Assad’s regime or his Russian allies, two high-ranking American officials told reporters Monday. “Instead, it worked to undermine it with organized violations during the week as well as preventing aid from reaching Aleppo”.

The UN has said its trucks would not roll until Washington and Moscow signalled that the Castello Road was clear and safe.

An AFP correspondent in Aleppo reported that the northern city was being pummelled.

Another 78,000 people living in and around Greater Orum in the north of Aleppo province would also receive flour and health supplies, Swanson said. -Russian brokered ceasefire had failed, and United Nations officials reported many dead and seriously wounded.

He said that the United Nations’ initial understanding was that a warehouse operated by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent had also been hit along with the convoy, before the trucks could distribute any aid to 78,000 people whom global groups had hoped to reach.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers had died in the strike.

The US government has expressed “outrage” over an attack on an aid convoy near the Syrian city of Aleppo that, a war monitor says, left 12 dead.

One UN spokesperson said: “We understand a convoy has been hit”.

The report said the groups used the truce to mobilise their forces, and the military had made “unremitting efforts” to implement the deal even though the opposition violated it 300 times.

Citing Syria’s armed forces, the state-run Sana news agency said Monday the cease-fire was supposed to provide a real chance for peace but terror groups “blew up the agreement”. “But the armed terrorist groups didn’t take it seriously and didn’t commit to any of its articles”, the military command statement said.

Earlier Monday, Russia’s Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi said in a briefing that Damascus had fulfilled its obligations.

In a phone interview from Damascus on Sunday, senior Assad adviser Buthaina Shaaban told AFP that the government “believes that the strike was intentional”.

A mistaken air raid by the US -led coalition also killed 62 Syrian soldiers.

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The UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian mission had sought to take advantage of the ceasefire, which collapsed on Monday night as shells and bombs rained down on Aleppo city and the surrounding province. The United States admitted having unintentionally struck Syrian troops when they were trying to target the Islamic State group. Residents blamed government forces and the Russian air force for the attacks. The Danish military stated that they will fully cooperate with the coalition investigation.

UN-Kerry