Group says 3 killed despite cease-fire in Syria

In a phone call between Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov on Friday, Mr Kerry criticised the “repeated and unacceptable delays of humanitarian aid”.

The Russian military says the Syrian army withdrew its armor, artillery and other weapons north of the Castello Road early on Thursday, in line with the U.S. -Russia-brokered truce.

The United Nations has urged Syria’s government to allow immediate aid deliveries to hunger-stricken civilians on Friday after a fragile ceasefire was extended for 48 hours by Russian Federation and the United States.

Under the peace deal signed by the United States and Russian Federation last week, the Americans must “separate the opposition groups that cooperate with them from Jabhat al-Nusra [Al-Nusra Front] and the likes of them”, Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Sputnik radio in Kyrgyzstan on Friday.

Food aid for desperate civilians in eastern Aleppo remained stuck on the Syrian border on Friday, the fourth morning of a fragile internationally-brokered truce in the war-ravaged country.

Meanwhile, hours-long fighting and shelling that erupted in neighborhoods on the edges of Damascus on Friday were the heaviest in the Syrian capital in weeks, according to activists and residents.

The situation in Syria is deteriorating, the Russian military said earlier, adding that the United States would be responsible if the current ceasefire breaks down.

Government forces and rebels groups have traded accusations of truce violations, and aid groups are still waiting to deliver humanitarian supplies to besieged areas inside Syria.

Konashenkov says the Syrian government forces are “the only party which is willing to hold talks, comply with the cease-fire and pull back the troops in order to allow United Nations humanitarian aid convoys”. “This is the first time for the US-led coalition to bomb a position for the regime army, but the Assad regime and Russian Federation want to exploit the situation to oblige the western coalition to cooperate with them in the anti-ISIS campaign”.

“This is a risky and bold attack against the Syrian state and army, and clear evidence that the United States and its allies support the terrorist group Daesh”, the army statement reported by the SANA official news agency said, referring to IS. The news service notes that, if confirmed, the casualties would mark the first time the USA has directly struck Syrian government forces during the country’s long-running civil war. Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Russian Federation “is still using its influence” to make sure the agreement, hammered out between Russian Federation and the USA, stands.

The Interfax news agency quoted Col. Sergei Kopytsin as saying Saturday that mortar fire and improvised rockets struck Aleppo 26 times.

The U.S. military said it had stopped an air strike after being told by Russian Federation it may have hit a Syrian army position.

Obama was due to gather top national security aides on Friday – including his secretaries of state and defence – with the shaky ceasefire set to dominate a meeting ostensibly about countering the Islamic State group (IS).

If the truce, which began on Monday, lasts seven days and humanitarian access is granted, Russian Federation and the U.S. are to work together to target jihadists including the extremist Islamic State group (IS) and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front.

London-based Syrian Obervatory for Human Rights said at least three people had been killed.

Syria’s conflict has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced half the country’s population since March 2011.