The United Nations has suspended all aid convoys in Syria after a devastating air attack on its lorries near Aleppo on Monday.
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“We hold the Russian government responsible for airstrikes in this airspace given their commitment under the cessation of hostilities was to ground air operations where humanitarian assistance was flowing”, Rhodes said, referring to the terms of a recent ceasefire brokered between the USA and Russia.
But late on Monday US State Department spokesman John Kirby called the convoy attack an “egregious violation” of the week-long ceasefire and said America “will reassess the future prospects for co-operation with Russia”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said the attacks were carried out by either Syrian or Russian aircraft.
Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman says the deadly attack on an aid convoy in Syria the previous night does not appear to have been from an airstrike.
The Red Crescent said about 20 civilians were killed. Peter Maurer, the organization’s president, called the attack a “flagrant violation” of global law.
The Russian foreign ministry said it was watching “with indignation and anger” at attempts by “protectors of terrorists and bandits” to blame Russia or Syria for the attack.
Airstrikes have been pounding Aleppo and other areas of Syria since the ceasefire was ended on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the Red Crescent sent out a tweet saying they were sending 31 trucks full of aid into opposition territory in the Aleppo countryside.
According to initial reports, 12 people had died.
This image provided by the Syrian anti-government group Aleppo 24 news, shows damaged trucks carrying aid, in Aleppo, Syria.
In the battleground city of Aleppo, air raids and artillery fire hit rebel-held districts until approximately 2:00 am, an AFP correspondent said.
Russian Federation had stopped monitoring the convoy after it had delivered its aid after which he said its whereabouts had only been known to militants on the ground.
Heavy fighting nearly immediately resumed, with activists and AFP correspondents on the ground in Syria reporting bombardments overnight and yesterday in several areas.
The remains of the Red Crescent humanitarian aid convoy.
United Nations says at least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed, and Red Crescent said as many as 20 people were killed in the attack.
An airstrike by the US -led coalition, which involves fighter jets from several countries, killed dozens of Syrian soldiers on Saturday and further undermined an already-eroded cease-fire.
The ceasefire was already under massive strain after a US-led coalition strike on Saturday hit a Syrian army post near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where government forces are battling the Islamic State jihadist group.
The ceasefire was meant to halt all fighting and allow aid to reach besieged areas, at a time when pro-government forces, with Russian and Iranian military support, are in their strongest positions for years and civilians in many rebel- held are completely cut off from food and medical supplies.
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Stalled aid deliveries have emerged as one of the most devastating consequences of the Syrian conflict, with the UN, Red Cross and others repeatedly demanding unhindered access to civilians in desperate need of life-saving supplies.
