The military operation, conducted by Syrian forces, formally marks the end of a short-lived ceasefire that sought to quell violence, coordinate efforts to defeat ISIS and allow aid to enter the besieged city.
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In a statement on its official website, the ministry “called on residents to stay away from the positions of terrorist groups”.
Washington had said initially that Russia was to blame, but that the strike delivered by a Russian-made Su-24 could have been carried out by Russia or Syria.
Throughout the day, warplanes pounded eastern Aleppo.
Syrian forces bombarded several neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo on Thursday night, killing 20 people, the activist said. Five of the victims were in al-Sukkari and 15 others in Bustan al-Qasr and Kallasseh.
One official said the USA was “not sure” the gridlock around the failed cease-fire agreement could be resolved, while another official added it would take “extraordinary steps” for Russian Federation to preserve the agreement.
Kerry’s proposal to ground all aircraft in the northwest area around Aleppo, where government forces and their Iranian and Hezbollah allies are present along with moderate opposition and jihadist forces, is a significant change from the original terms of the U.S. -Russia agreement.
The strikes come after Russian Federation and the Syrian regime rejected a United States plea to halt flights, burying any hope for the revival of the ceasefire.
The top United States military officer on Thursday blasted Russian Federation over the attack on an aid convoy in Syria, calling the strike an atrocity and squarely blaming Moscow for the incident.
US Ambassador Samantha Power hit back, describing Russia’s reaction as “a stunt replete with moralism and grandstanding” that was “uniquely cynical and hypocritical”.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military or mention on state media of Thursday’s bombardment of Aleppo.
“It sends the wrong signal”, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Russian Federation denied involvement. Prior to that, tensions between Washington and Moscow spiked over a lethal air raid on Syrian government troops by the USA -led coalition against Islamic State.
On Monday, a United Nations -coordinated aid convoy heading to besieged areas in Aleppo was attacked, killing approximately 20 civilians, according to the Red Cross. That’s what they should accuse first: “the people or the militants, the terrorists who are responsible for the security of this convoy”, Assad said.
State Department spokesman John Kirby says “it’s hard to see how these ridiculous claims deserve a response, except to say they prove yet again the degree to which Assad has lost his legitimacy to govern”. However, the U.S. has blamed Russian Federation.
Speaking about the almost 5 million refugees who have fled the violence in Syria, Assad called them a “great loss”. Russian Federation has denied responsibility, while raising a range of ulterior scenarios for how the caravan might have been struck.
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The UN resumed aid deliveries on Thursday after a brief pause following a strike on a convoy in northern Syria that killed 20 civilians and destroyed 18 aid lorries. The country’s civil war, which is in its fifth year, has so far claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people and sparked a refugee crisis, according to the UN. It’s an interagency humanitarian effort of the United Nations and SARC, carrying aid for 7,000 people, according to a tweet from the SARC.
