Syrian military declares end to cease-fire; aid convoy comes under attack

Jan Egeland, humanitarian aid coordinator in the office of the United Nations envoy for Syria, told The Associated Press in a text message that the convoy was “bombarded”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it has delivered humanitarian aid to the besieged town of Talbiseh in Syria’s central Homs province.

The Syrian military announced Monday it is no longer observing a cease-fire brokered by the USA and Russian Federation to allow food and medicine into besieged areas.

David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said earlier Monday that a convoy on trucks was crossing into Orum al-Kubra with “wheat flour, health supplies and other emergency supplies” for 78,000 people in the area.

Syrian activists and residents of the northern city of Aleppo are reporting airstrikes on rebel-held districts hours after the Syrian military declared that a cease-fire had expired.

Already widely violated since it took effect, the ceasefire came under added strain at the weekend when Russian Federation said jets from the US-led coalition against Islamic State killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria.

The strikes came shortly after Syria’s army declared an end to the ceasefire between the regime and non-jihadist rebels brokered by Russian Federation and the United States.

Witnesses described the Monday attack on a Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouse and convoy in the rebel-held town of Uram al-Kubra in Aleppo province as prolonged and intense, saying the aerial bombardment continued as rescue workers rushed to pull the wounded from the flaming wreckage and rubble. Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over the province, while the US -led coalition targets the Islamic State group in other parts of the country.

Alice reports an aid convoy traveling with the permission of the Syrian government was attacked from the air on its way to a rebel-controlled area west of Aleppo city in the morning, and several trucks were destroyed.

On Monday, Syria’s Russian-backed government declared the cease-fire dead. “But the armed terrorist groups didn’t take it seriously and didn’t commit to any of its articles”, the military command statement said. Humanitarian aid was supposed to flow to Aleppo and five other areas in Syria during that time.

U. N. Humanitarian Chief Stephen O’Brien called on “all parties to the conflict, once again, to take all necessary measures to protect humanitarian actors, civilians, and civilian infrastructure as required by global humanitarian law”.

The agreement, negotiated by top diplomats from government backer Russian Federation and the United States, saw an initial drop in fighting across the country after it came into force on September 12.

Asked about the army’s statement, Kerry told reporters in NY the seven days of calm and aid deliveries envisaged in the truce had not yet taken place.

Elsewhere at least 20 civilians, including a 1-year-old girl, were killed in fresh airstrikes on rebel-held Aleppo city and the surrounding areas, according to the Observatory.

Providing new details of the strikes, which complicated what has been a largely unsuccessful cease-fire agreement, Thomas said the USA military is appointing a brigadier general to investigate the incident.

“The Syrian Army had announced a freeze on fighting until Sunday night, but as Russian Federation announced an extension, it will end on Monday at 7:00pm (1600 GMT)”, the source told AFP.

“That only leaves two possibilities” for nations operating in the air in Syria, the official said, adding that either way, “Russia is responsible for its side of this equation”. He claimed on Monday that the Syrian government forces have observed the truce unilaterally, despite the continuing rebel violations.

The cease-fire came into effect on September 12. Syria and Russian Federation blasted Washington over the attack.

His adviser Buthaina Shaaban went further, telling AFP that Damascus believed the raid which killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers had been “intentional”.

A U.S. airstrike on Syrian forces on Saturday also caused trouble.

Assad said Monday the airstrikes by the US -led coalition against his troops were meant to support the Islamic State group, calling the attack a “blatant American aggression”. The figure does not include dozens of Syrian soldiers and Islamic State militants killed in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.