The United States has reached the preliminary conclusion that Russian warplanes bombed an aid convoy and warehouse belonging to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, two USA officials told CNN.
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Last Monday, a Russian-U.S. ceasefire was implemented in Syria, bringing relative calm to the most troubled areas, including Aleppo.
U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby, acknowledged that the administration had seen the comments from the Syrian military, but that the “arrangement is with Russian Federation, which is responsible for the Syrian regime’s compliance”.
Speaking Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Kerry said some humanitarian assistance is moving but it’s too soon to say if it will meet the requirements of the cease-fire deal.
“Many groups have killed many innocents – but none more so than the government of Syria, which continues to barrel bomb neighborhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees”.
Ali Barakat, who also works for the Red Crescent, says Tuesday he threw himself on the floor when the first missile hit and killed his brother, Omar Barakat.
David Butter, associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, called the latest development a “severe setback” and said the prospects for peace “look very poor” at this point. He stressed that all parties received notification of the convoy, which was carrying aid for about 78,000 people. Initial estimates indicated that at least 18 of the 31 lorries in the convoy were hit.
“What happened today has dealt a serious blow to efforts to bring peace to Syria”, said a senior USA administration official, who added that the strike “raises very serious questions about whether the Russians can deliver their end of the arrangement” to rein in the Syrian regime.
They posted images of a number of vehicles on fire in the dead of the night.
“It is outrageous that it was hit while offloading at warehouses”, he added.
“It probably won’t deter (US) Secretary of State (John) Kerry from trying to keep some discussion going, but really the worst expectations for the ceasefire have been fulfilled”, Butter said.
Mr Laerke said yesterday that the United Nations aid coordinator had received needed authorisations from the Syrian government in recent days to allow for aid convoys to proceed within Syria.
Russian and US officials met in Geneva on Monday to try to extend the truce, and the International Syria Support Group – the countries backing the Syria peace process – was scheduled to meet on Tuesday in NY to assess the agreement.
The collapse of the ceasefire, a major project of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, could doom any chance of the administration of President Barack Obama negotiating a breakthrough on Syria before it leaves office in January.
“What is lacking in this instance is good faith and sincerity”, Ayrault told a news conference on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in NY.
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.
The Syrian army said in a statement last week that the cease-fire would last until midnight Sunday but it’s not clear if the U.S. -Russia-brokered deal set a time limit for the truce.
The cease-fire came into effect on September 12.
The US, which brokered the deal with Russian Federation, said it was working to extend the agreement.
But from the start, the truce has been beset by difficulties and mutual accusations of violations.
Aid deliveries to the besieged eastern districts of Aleppo have not reached their destination. However, the US officials said details of the agreement were shared on Monday.
In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a new push by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels aimed at capturing a town held by the Islamic State group. It said four civilians were killed in government-held areas. “Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians”.
Russia’s defence ministry appeared to bury the truce, saying rebel violations made it “pointless” for government troops to uphold it.
The Syrian army could not immediately be reached for comment about the attack in a rebel-held area west of Aleppo near the town of Urm al-Kubra.
The Syrian military statement placed the blame on the rebel groups. The Assad government describes almost all armed groups opposing its rule as “terrorists”. Supposedly moderate US-backed rebel groups are meant to be separating themselves geographically from al-Nusra, but they remain intermingled with it.
Syria’s armed forces “exercised the highest degree of self-restraint while facing violations by terrorist groups”, the statement said.
The U.S. -led coalition monitored a target in Syria for two days and deemed it valid before launching the airstrikes that Russian Federation says hit and killed Syrian government troops Saturday, a U.S. Central Command officer said Tuesday.
“The regime does not respect the terms and conditions of the truce”.
The Observatory reported 35 strikes in and around Aleppo since the truce ended. The Syrian military said earlier Monday that the cease-fire had expired.
Rebels also said they believed the ceasefire was probably over.
The agreement was further jeopardized Saturday after the US -led coalition hit Syrian government positions south of Deir al-Zour, killing at least 60 government troops.
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, voiced outrage at the attack. Australian and Danish warplanes were involved in that attack on Syrian army positions. The U.S. military said it would not intentionally hit Syrian troops, and that it came as it was conducting a raid on IS positions.
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World Food Programme spokeswoman Bettina Luescher said in a statement that the United Nations food agency had airdropped aid to besieged neighborhoods in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour earlier Tuesday “as part of the planned schedule of deliveries”.
