to begin with for us to say whether it failed or succeeded , " Riad Hijab , general coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee , told reporters . Aid was delivered to the besieged town of Talbiseh in Homs province on Monday , the Red Cross said , for the first time since July . The convoy brought in food , water and hygiene supplies for up to 84,000 people , it said .
A ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and the United States saw Syria 's government and non - jihadist opposition agree to halt attacks while pursuing peace talks . Violence dropped across the country , including in Aleppo city , where residents cautiously began shopping in open - air markets and taking their children to parks . But a surge in violence in recent weeks has left the ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementall but collapsed . In the rebel - held town of Douma , 13 people -- including three women and two children -- were killed in government shelling on the city . Douma lies in the Eastern Ghouta opposition bastion , where the Jaish al - Islam rebel group -- also party to the truce deal -- is dominant .
US Secretary of State John Kerry has claimed that the ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementin Syria “ is not dead ” following an attack on an aid convoy that killed around 20 people near Aleppo . The Syrian Arab Red Crescent ( SARC ) has condemned the strike that killed around 20 humanitarian volunteers and one staff member , calling it “ totally unacceptable ” . The UN and Red Crescent convoy was delivering aid supplies to Uram al - Kubra , west of Aleppo city , when it was struck on Monday night .
He said 12 civilians had died in the attacks , including two children and a Syrian Red Crescent volunteer . Russian military officials lashed out at the United States in the strongest language yet over the ceasefire struck last week in Geneva , a last - ditch effort to stop the bloodshed in Syria . The ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementhas so far lasted five days . " Russia is exerting all possible effort to restrain government troops from returning fire , " senior army general Viktor Poznikhir said during the televised briefing . " If the American side does not take the necessary measures to carry out its obligations ... a breakdown of the ceasefire will be on the United States . "
US officials acknowledged there might no longer be any agreement left to salvage after the convoy attack . If the truce is abandoned , it would most likely wreck the last hope of any breakthrough on Syria before the administration of President Barack Obama leaves office in January . A senior Obama administration official said of the ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreement: “ We do n't know if it can be salvaged ” . “ At this point the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage , ” the official , who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity , added . A burnt out vehicle is abandoned in the road after the fire ( AP )
A Syrian army source said the air strike had allowed IS to gain ground in the area around the Syrian airbase , but that Syrian forces had regained most positions on the hilltop nearby with the help of Syrian and Russian air support . Syrian President Bashar al - Assad denounced the air strike as a " flagrant aggression " . The attack has dealt a further blow to an already shaky ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementdeal , which was agreed by the US and Russia on Monday . The terms of the deal include a nationwide ceasefire between the armed opposition and the Syrian government , but not jihadist groups . It will be renewed every 48 hours if it holds .
The foreign officers where embedded in a militant - held section of Aleppo and could be the real reason for the imminent end of diplomatic cooperation between the US and Russia . As part of an ongoing offensive against militant - held sectors of Aleppo , Russian warships hit a military operations center near the city , killing 30 Israeli , US , Saudi , and British officers who were allegedly offering support and intelligence to ISIS militants in Syria . The strike came following a failed ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementin the embattled country , which was ultimately derailed after being violated multiple times by US - backed militant groups , the US , and Israel . Russia ’s Sputnik news agency reported the incident citing a battlefield source in Aleppo and other reports confirmed the attack . According to sources , Russian warships fired three Caliber missiles at the operations room , where the officers were gathered , in the Dar Ezza region of Western Aleppo .
Over 200 air strikes hit the rebel - held city of Aleppo over the weekend , killing more than 100 people and injuring hundreds more , according to Ammar al - Selmo , the head of the Syria Civil Defense group , a volunteer emergency medical service . On Sunday , top UN officials described the Syrianm regime 's brutal offensive against areas of the besieged northern city of Aleppo as " barbaric . " Following the collapse of a short - lived , US and Russia - brokered ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreement, Syrian forces pounded eastern Aleppo on Sunday , killing at least 85 people and wounding more than 300 others , an activist group reported . JUST WATCHED Syrian government launches " comprehensive offensive " Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Syrian government launches " comprehensive offensive " 03:26 Etaky 's young son has been suffering with a fever but he says he has been unable to get him treatment with the city 's resources brutally stretched .
The driver of the vehicle survived the blast — suggesting it originated in the middle of the bus . The incident comes at a highly sensitive time for landlocked Armenia , which has not experienced any major terrorist incidents since the 1990s . Four days of clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in early April in Nagorno - Karabakh claimed over 100 fatalities — the greatest loss of life in the conflict since a 1994 ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementended a bloody ethnic war that erupted in the dying days of the Soviet Union . The violence threatens to destabilize a sensitive region bordered by Turkey , Russia and Iran . Photo : REUTERS / Vahan Stepanyan / PAN Photo
VERGE ON COLLAPSE Saturday ’s bungle has raised questions about Syria ’s ceasefire after the city of Aleppo was hit by its first air raids in nearly a week . The barrage of strikes on rebel - held districts of Aleppo risks reigniting battlefronts in the city and could be the most serious threat to the ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementso far . A halt to fighting around Aleppo and the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid were key components of the fragile deal that took effect last Monday evening . The ceasefire ’s co - sponsors , Russia and the United States , have traded accusations over its fraying , with relations strained even further following the raid .
Aid shipments into the devastated city of Aleppo have yet to be allowed to reach civilians . More than 470,000 people have been killed in the Syrian civil war since 2011 , according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research . On Saturday , Putin blamed ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementviolations and the aid blockade on resistance from Washington , saying Americans “ still can not separate the so - called healthy part of the opposition from the half - criminal and terrorist elements . “ In my opinion , this comes from the desire to keep the combat potential in fighting the legitimate government of Bashar Assad . But this is a very dangerous route . ”
“ It is only because of Russian Air Force support [ that ] the offensive of the terrorist group was stopped . We request that the air support for the Syrian armed forces be continued by the Russian air force in order to destroy the terrorists . ” The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that US air strikes against Syrian government forces jeopardize the Syrian ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementdeal reached between Moscow and Washington on September 9 . Earlier on Saturday Russia ’s Defense Ministry said that four strikes against Syrian positions had been delivered by US - led coalition aircraft – two F-16 jet fighters and two A-10 support aircraft . The Syrian military called the bombing a “ serious and blatant aggression ” against Syrian forces , and said it was " conclusive evidence " that the US and its allies support IS militants .
At the same time , lower down the ranks , at the operations level , one of the American military service personnel said quite frankly that they spent several days preparing this strike . How could they make an error if they were several days in preparation ? ” said Putin . “ This is how our ceasefiregovernment.agreements.violateagreementagreement ended up broken . Who broke the agreement ? Was it us ?