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Syrian military declares cease-fire period over

Bouthaina Shaaban, a political and media adviser to Assad, told CNN’s Becky Anderson that Syria is adhering to the truce and the USA should start cooperating.

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The UN held back deliveries destined for Aleppo city because it was unable to obtain security guarantees, leading the UN’s humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien to say he was “pained and disappointed”. The UN accused the government of obstructing the delivery while Russian officials said rebels opened fire at the delivery roads.

The so-called “regime of calm” was declared by the Syrian army last Monday following a ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russian Federation.

The Britain based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that one woman was killed and many others were injured but it was not clear who conducted the air raids.

The U.S. military has said it may have unintentionally struck Syrian troops while carrying out a raid against the Islamic State group on Saturday.

Earlier this month, Syrian government forces and their allies captured areas they lost south of the city, reimposing a siege on its opposition-held eastern neighborhoods.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S.is ready to work with Russian Federation to strengthen the terms of the cease-fire agreement and expand deliveries of humanitarian aid.

When the terms of the ceasefire were announced, the deal was immediately criticised by NGOs and rebel groups for ignoring the millions of Syrians elsewhere also living under siege conditions.

Iran, another close ally of Syria’s government, also condemned the US raid, saying it violated Syria’s sovereignty and “showed that terrorist groups enjoy USA support in Syria”.

Moadamiyat Al Sham mayor Bassam Karbuj said about 7,000 food parcels were distributed and that the army would take full control of the town once remaining rebels are bussed out “in the coming days”.

“The truce was supposed to be a real chance to stop the bloodshed, but the armed terrorist groups flouted this agreement”, Monday’s army statement said.

“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”.

Russian Federation – president Bashar Assad’s main foreign backer – said it had been told by the Syrian government that 62 of its troops had been killed in the strike. Moscow supports Bashar Assad with its air force.

Lt. -Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian Military General Staff, speaks to the media at a Russian Defense Ministry building in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016.

Although a ceasefire is temporarily in effect in war-torn Syria, humanitarian aid has been blocked for days at the Turkish border, leaving thousands of Syrians without many basic needs-like food, for example.

Under the terms of their agreement, the USA was supposed to rein in opposition forces and Moscow was to ensure its ally Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad halted attacks.

At least 80 Syrian soldiers were killed by the US-led coalition airstrikes on Saturday, and included the involvement of British forces.

“Despite continued attacks by the regime on opposition positions, we have witnessed a measure of reduced violence over the last week”, spokesman John Kirby said.

The Foreign Ministry’s statement, sent to the U.N. Security Council, said American warplanes repeatedly attacked Syrian army positions on Saturday afternoon.

“The UK would not intentionally target Syrian military units”, it added, declining to comment further.

Syria s ceasefire was on the brink of collapsing Sunday, after a US-led coalition strike killed dozens of regime soldiers and Aleppo city was hit by its first air raids in almost a week.

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He appeared to be referring to a US -led coalition airstrike on Saturday that Syria says killed dozens of its soldiers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with reporters during a visit for a summit of former Soviet republics at Kyrgyzstan's international Manas airport outside Bishkek Kyrgyzstan