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USA is willing to extend Syria truce despite violations

Abu al-Baraa al-Hamawi, a rebel commander, said the most intense bombardments had taken place in areas west of Aleppo, the same area where the aid convoy was hit.

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One UN 20-truck aid convoy meant to go to Aleppo never made it across the Turkish border.

“The amount of shelling by rebel groups against positions of Syrian government troops and of residential areas is increasing”, said defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

The seven-day ceasefire declared by the Syrian army expired at midnight with no announcement of its extension.

Activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said 12 people – aid workers and truck drivers – had died in a strike by Syrian or Russian warplanes. American officials said, however, that conditions were still not right for U.S.

Turkey launched its operation in northern Syria on August 24, sending in tanks and special forces to support opposition fighters in a bid to remove Islamic State (IS) extremists and Kurdish militia forces from its border.

“Given the fact that militants do not abide by the ceasefire regime, we believe that there is no sense in unilateral compliance with the ceasefire by the Syrian government forces”, Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi said at a briefing.

The ceasefire crumbled over the weekend following multiple violations, including a US -led air strike Saturday that resulted in the deaths of over 60 Syrian soldiers. The figure does not include dozens of Syrian soldiers and Islamic State militants killed in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, the Observatory said Monday. Moscow put the death toll at 62.

However, the rebels didn’t pull back and said they don’t want the aid to be scrutinized by the Russians or the Syrian government, firing on the road several times and attacking a nearby Syrian military position, which prompted the Syrian army to return its gears to the Castello.

“The actions of the pilots – if they, as we hope, were not taken on orders from Washington – fall between criminal negligence and direct pandering to IS terrorists”, it said.

Syria and Russian Federation blasted Washington over the attack.

With the week old cease-fire in danger of unraveling, both Moscow and Washington have indicated a desire to try and salvage the agreement – which had brought a brief respite to at least some parts the war-torn country.

The situation is likely to loom large at the annual UN General Assembly starting Tuesday as well as a UN summit on migration on Monday.

A Russian Foreign Ministry statement late Monday night appeared to signal that the deal could still be salvaged, saying that the failure by the rebels in Syria to respect the cease-fire threatens to thwart the agreement.

“There was no ceasefire to begin with for us to say whether it failed or succeeded”, Riad Hijab, general coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee, told reporters.

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Talbiseh is besieged by government forces.

USA is willing to extend Syria truce despite violations