US Says Russia Must Clarify Syria Army Statement That Truce Is Over

Damascus refers to all armed opposition groups as terrorists.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir pledged his country’s support for Syria’s opposition forces, along with representatives of Qatar, Turkey and European nations, and stressed that Assad can not remain in power, even though that issue has been delayed until the fighting wanes.

State media confirmed a plane had been shot down and its pilot killed, but did not say who was responsible.

-Russian brokered ceasefire and prompting an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting as tensions between Moscow and Washington escalated.

The last ceasefire, reached in February, unraveled over a period of weeks as fighting intensified, particularly in and around Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city before the war and now potentially the biggest prize for pro-government forces.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement that both “terrorists and the opposition” are using the truce to “boost their forces and prepare for renewed hostilities”.

“Fierce fighting with the terrorists is now underway in the area of the airport where for a long a time humanitarian aid for civilians was parachuted”.

Kerry showed clear exasperation with the statement on Monday morning when he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in NY. The Syrian Network for Human Rights, an independent watchdog group, identified 28 breaches of the ceasefire in the first 48 hours by the regime.

And that Russian Federation has not upheld its end of a ceasefire deal which would have seen Moscow and the U.S. set up a military coordination cell.

This is why when US-led coalition warplanes launched airstrikes against the Syrian Arab Army instead of Daesh in Deir ez-Zor, the Russians were “prepared to assume the worst”, as Gvosdev put it.

Humanitarian access to Aleppo hinges on control of the main road into the besieged rebel-held part of the divided city.

Both convoys are still sitting at the Turkey-Syria border, where they have been for nearly a week, United Nations spokesman Jens Laerke said.

A United Nations spokesman in NY confirmed that at least one of its aid convoys, sent in coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, was hit on the way to the Syrian city of Orum while carrying enough food and aid for 78,000 people.

“The people of Syria have suffered long enough. They were surrounded, they were considerably weakened as a result of Syrian and Russian efforts”, political analyst and commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, Hafsa Kara-Mustapha told Radio Sputnik. The accord calls for a nationwide truce, but that excludes attacks on the Islamic State and a former al-Qaida affiliate, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

But if that cooperation falls apart, a whole new set of problems could confront the United States, according to CNN military analyst, retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona. “We are trying to get more information”. We need to see where we are, and then we’ll make a judgment. But I guarantee you … that list is going to Damascus very, very quickly.

The evening strikes on Aleppo killed one woman and wounded others, said the Britain-based Observatory, which could not identify who carried them out. The Observatory gave a different death toll, saying 90 troops were killed in the strikes.

“There were Australian aircraft involved in the operation. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage”.

“We are reaching a really terrifying conclusion for the whole world: that the White House is defending Islamic State”.

The Syrian military statement placed the blame squarely on the rebel groups.

The areas hit are close to Syrian army positions that were targeted on Saturday by the US -led coalition.

But from the start, the truce has been beset by difficulties and mutual accusations of violations.