Denouncing what he said were repeated violations of the cease-fire, a senior Russian military official said it was “senseless” for the government of Assad to respect the cease-fire.
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The Syrian military declared a week-long ceasefire over Monday and said that it would resume fighting, though the US said the truce could only be called off by the USA and Russian Federation since they are the entities that negotiated it.
The week-old cease-fire had brought a brief respite to at least some parts the war-torn country.
Earlier, Kerry said “the basic cease-fire is holding but fragile”, adding that some humanitarian assistance deliveries had begun, and that USA and Russian diplomats were meeting in Geneva.
Monitors reported clashes in and around Aleppo on Monday.
Kerry expressed frustration with the touch-and-go cease-fire.
“We have not had seven days of calm and of delivery of humanitarian goods”, Mr Kerry said.
“We are prepared to extend the cessation of hostilities, while working to strengthen it and expand deliveries of assistance”, Kirby’s statement said. The deal is part of a multi-stage plan meant to begin with the truce and allowing the entry of humanitarian aid.
The strikes came shortly after Syria’s army declared an end to the ceasefire between the regime and non-jihadist rebels brokered by Russian Federation and the United States.
On Monday, the opposition reported 254 violations by government forces and their allies since the truce started on September 12. The two countries had agreed that completion of a successful seven-day ceasefire would mark the starting point of greater military coordination against ISIS and other militant groups.
But from the start, the truce has been beset by difficulties and mutual accusations of violations.
But most aid shipments envisioned under the truce have yet to go in, especially a convoy destined for rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo, where some 275,000 civilians are believed trapped without access to food or medical supplies. The official said, however, that even though US operations over the area had ceased in the immediate aftermath of the strike, it did not preclude USA aircraft from returning to the area in the coming days.
The air strikes appeared particularly heavy in insurgent-held areas west of Aleppo, near the rebel stronghold of Idlib province.
Air raids hit aid trucks near the city of Aleppo on Monday, a monitoring group reported, as the Syrian military declared that a week-long ceasefire was over. It said four civilians were killed in government-held areas. There were no independent reports of civilian deaths on the government side since the cease-fire came into effect.
The Syrian government forces have in fact also repeatedly been accused of violating the truce.
Russian Federation has said that the USA is failing to keep its part of the bargain, stating that militants are using the truce to prepare a large-scale offensive, particularly in Aleppo.
The Syrian military statement placed the blame on the rebel groups. Damascus refers to all armed opposition groups as terrorists. “The armed terrorist groups took advantage of the declared truce system and mobilized terrorists and weapons and regrouped to continue its attacks on civilian and military areas”.
In a statement published in state news media, the Syrian army’s general command placed blame for the failure of the cease-fire on its global opponents and on truce violations by insurgent groups.
“The regime of Bashar Assad had no real intention to commit to the truce”.
Syria’s armed forces “exercised the highest degree of self-restraint while facing violations by terrorist groups”, the statement said.
“Considering that the conditions of the ceasefire are not being respected by the rebels, we consider it pointless for the Syrian government forces to respect it unilaterally”, said Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy.
Britain, Denmark and Australia have since admitted that their planes took part in the airstrike – which Moscow says killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers.
The air raid by the USA -led coalition killed dozens of Syrian soldiers and led to a harsh verbal attack on Washington by Damascus and Moscow. Both Russia and Syria have denied involvement in the strike.
The Syrian army could not immediately be reached for comment.
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.
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“Then he needs to stop [blocking aid] and let the joint implementation center get set up so Russian Federation and the United States can coordinate in order to avoid the kind of awful thing that happened yesterday that we all acknowledge and regret”, Kerry said.
