Syria’s nascent ceasefire hung in the balance Monday after an airstrike on a United Nations aid convoy led the U.S. to question Russia’s commitment to calming violence in the war-torn country and its ability to influence its ally in Damascus.
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Twelve people involved in the aid delivery were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organization that monitors the conflict in Syria.
Initial estimates indicated that at least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit.
“Our outrage at this attack is enormous”, said Staffan de Mistura, the UN’s special representative for Syria. “The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians”. The Syrian statement accused rebel groups of committing more than 300 cease-fire violations of the truce.
A Red Crescent warehouse was also hit and a Red Crescent health clinic was reported to be seriously damaged, he said. The head of the centre and several others were badly injured. Those seven days of calm and aid deliveries were required before the US and Russian Federation could embark on a plan to cooperate in targeting the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliates working in Syria. That would allow US and Russian military efforts to be directed at the two militant groups.
Despite Dunford’s comments, the week-old cease-fire appeared to be jeopardy Monday, as a United Nations aid convoy was hit while trying to deliver aid to civilians trapped in Syria’s civil war, and the Syrian military said it was pulling out of the truce because of rebel attacks.
“The Russians made the agreement”.
The attack could only have been carried out by Bashar al-Assad’s regime or his Russian allies, two high-ranking American officials told reporters Monday. “But the point – the important thing is the Russians need to control Assad, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys”.
Although the ceasefire appeared to initially reduce the amount of violence in hard-hit areas like Aleppo, the delivery of humanitarian aid was delayed for security reasons. “The last two were barrel bombs”, he said, the sound of an explosion audible in the background. The statement said the rebels wasted a “real chance” to stop the bloodshed. “The regime and Russians are taking revenge on all the areas”, he said.
But like the Syrian army, the rebels spoke of returning to the battlefield.
The coordinator of Syria’s main opposition group said on Monday that the ceasefire never took hold and called on the world to put an end to the “criminality” of the Syrian government.
At a UN meeting on migrants, Kerry said the nations gathered had reaffirmed the right that impartial aid workers should be granted unfettered access to deliver emergency assistance to civilians. However, he also repeated calls for the sustained delivery of humanitarian aid to Aleppo and other besieged communities. The convoy brought in food, water and hygiene supplies for up to 84,000 people, it said.
Turkey, a staunch backer of the rebels, has renewed its urging for a no-fly zone in northern Syria, something policy makers in Washington have argued would be hard to implement, especially given the Russian air force’s involvement in the war. But while it led to a significant reduction in fighting at the outset, violence has increased in recent days and aid has mostly failed to arrive. The Homs governor said the plan had been postponed from Monday to Tuesday.
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Rebel forces and activists say government planes have bombed areas that are under the truce agreement, including rebel-held parts of Aleppo.
