NEWS BRIEF The Syrian military called off a cease-fire agreement reached last week, a decision it blamed on rebel groups, but which was undoubtedly affected by a USA bombing mission that killed Syrian government forces over the weekend.
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Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador who called the meeting, said it was suspicious the incident had happened just two days before United States and Russian forces were supposed to begin co-ordinated strikes against IS and that it had left a “very big question mark” over the peace deal.
Despite the setback, the State Department said it was prepared to extend the cease-fire window in the hopes that if it held, the USA and Russian Federation could then turn to their planned military cooperation against the Islamic State militants and al-Qaida-linked groups in Syria.
The truce backed by world powers aimed to help end Syria’s brutal five-year conflict, which has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions.
The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment on the attack.
In a statement Monday, the Syrian military said that “armed terrorist groups” repeatedly violated the cease-fire which came into effect last week.
The statement said the military forces have practised high self-restraint, and responded in a few cases when it had to do so to silence the fire from the rebels.
In a written statement later Monday, the State Department said it has seen the Syrian military’s comment and that it expects Russian Federation to ensure Assad’s compliance with the ceasefire deal.
Despite the US-Russia deal reached on September 9, fragile nationwide ceasefire in Syria in force since September 12 is undermined by numerous outbreaks of hostilities.
Earlier on Monday both the USA and Russian Federation had suggested the ceasefire, which technically ended at 11.59pm on Sunday and is supposed to renew every 48 hours, could still be salvaged.
Relations were already strained between the U.S., which backs some rebel groups in Syria, and Russian Federation, an ally of the Syrian government, after a United States coalition-led airstrike near Isis territory killed at least 62 government soldiers on Saturday.
“We should not have a short memory, the reality is, without a doubt, that the regime is mainly responsible for the tragedy in Syria”, he said.
Syria’s army said the seven-day truce period had ended.
A Syrian activist group said 92 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the cease-fire.
The United Nations said it had received government approval to reach almost all the besieged and hard-to-reach areas where it sought to bring aid, but access to many areas was still constrained by fighting, insecurity and administrative delays.
He claimed on Monday that the Syrian government forces have observed the truce unilaterally, despite the continuing rebel violations.
The Syrian military said the airstrike enabled an ISIS advance on a hill overlooking the air base.
“The latest example of this is the flagrant American aggression on one of the Syrian army’s positions in Deir Ezzor”, he said.
Denmark says two of its F-16 fighter jets took part in the US -led air raid that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers over the weekend.
UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said it was an “outrage”.
The convoy was “bombed today in spite of de-confliction with parties” in which the aid agencies coordinate their movements with all sides on the ground, he added.
Aid was delivered to tens of thousands in rebel-held Talbisseh, where at least two people were killed by shelling during the truce.
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A planned evacuation of several hundred rebels from the last opposition-held district of Homs, al-Waer, has also endangered the deal.
