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US,
Russia to Hold Urgent Meeting on Syria Following Ceasefire Collapse
Russian
and US officials will hold urgent meetings on Monday night and
Tuesday to discuss the collapse of the ceasefire in Syria, according
to a US official.
19
September, 2016
"We are also going to be meeting with the Russians at high levels to try to get a sense from them about where they think this [Syrian ceasefire] can go from here," the US official said.
A US official, speaking
on condition of anonymity, said that an airstrike on aid workers on
Monday has done significant harm to the peace plan.
"What
happened today has dealt a serious blow to our efforts to bring peace
to Syria," the official stated, claiming that the aid workers
were hit by a strike not launched by the US-led coalition.
UN
Secretary-General's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told Sputnik
earlier on Monday that a UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy was
hit while delivering aid to Aleppo.
Over the weekend, US-led
airstrikes struck a Syrian Army position, killing 62 servicemen and
injuring 100 more.
US Central Command has admitted responsibility for
the strike, claiming it mistook the Syrian forces for Daesh
terrorists.
In addition to American fighters, the UK, Australia, and
Denmark were also involved in the incident.
On September 9, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry
announced a new plan on Syria, which stipulated a ceasefire tha came
into force last Monday.
It was the first step toward establishing a
Joint Implementation Center which would coordinate Russian and
American airstrikes against terrorist groups. The fate of this plan
remains unkown in light of the airstrikes.
Syrian
Ceasefire Collapses
After Assad Slams "Naked
American
Aggression"
19
September, 2016
Update: well,
that was quick: according to AFP the Syrian ceasefire is now over,
just one week after it began
*
* *
Update: well,
that was quick: according to AFP the Syrian ceasefire is now over,
just one week after it began
AFP news agency
#BREAKING Syria army declares 'end' of ceasefire
*
* *
Barely
a week into the latest "hard fought" Syrian ceasefire
brokered by the United States and Russia last weekend, the deal
seemed on the verge of collapse on Monday as a rebel official said it
had practically failed and signaled insurgents were preparing for a
full resumption of fighting. Already widely violated since it took
effect a week ago, the ceasefire came under added strain at the
weekend when Russia said jets from the U.S.-led coalition against
Islamic State killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria
Then,
adding fuel to the fire, moments ago, the Assad
administration again lashed out at
the US-coalition when Assad said the "confused" American
attack on Syrian soldiers which killed 62 as previously reported, was
a "naked American aggression."
"Increased
state support for terrorists hostile to Syria has recently presented
itself
in
the form of naked American aggression against one of the Syrian army
positions in Deir ez-Zor in favor of the interests of the [Daesh
jihadist group]," Assad said, as quoted by the Syrian
presidency’s Twitter account, hosting a senior Iranian diplomat. He
added that "countries hostile to Syria increase their support
for terrorism as Syria succeeds in liberating territories and signing
ceasefire agreements."
As previously
reported on Saturday,
the US Central Command said that the Syrian forces were mistaken for
Daesh terrorists, in response to which Russia accused the US of
"defending ISIS." Australia, Denmark and the United Kingdom
have confirmed their participation in the airstrikes in Deir ez-Zor.
Assad emphasized the importance of support provided by Russia and
Iran during Syria's war against terrorism.
The
United States relayed "regret" about the unintentional loss
of life.The Danish defense minister said on Monday "more
credible sources" were needed before he could draw conclusions.
"I don't want to explore different scenarios until we are
certain, that we have even hit Syrian soldiers," Minister of
Defense Peter Christensen told local news agency Ritzau. "So far
it's only a Russian report. I think we need others and more credible
sources, before I conclude anything."
Going
back to the ceasefire agreement that was triumphantly announced by
John Kerry last Friday night in Geneva, Reuters
notes that while
the agreement has led to a significant reduction in fighting over the
past week, violence has been increasing in recent days, and a planned
delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged rebel-held districts of
eastern Aleppo - one of the first steps in the deal - has been
repeatedly postponed.
Plans
to evacuate several hundred rebels from the last opposition-held
district of Homs city have also overshadowed the agreement, with
rebels saying it would amount to the government declaring the
ceasefire over. The Homs governor said the plan had been postponed
from Monday to Tuesday.
*
* *
Making
matters worse, the Russian
General Staff said Monday that
US-backed Syrian rebels have not separated from terrorists, but
united with al-Nusra Front and are preparing for an offensive.
According to the Russian military, the only parties adhering to the
truce are Moscow and the Syrian government forces, while the United
States and opposition groups it controls have not fulfilled a single
obligation according to the Russia-US agreement, the General Staff
said.
"The
United States and so-called moderate opposition groups under its
control have not fulfilled a single commitment taken on under the
Geneva agreements. Above all, the moderate opposition has not been
separated from al-Nusra Front [also known as Jabhat Fatah al
Sham]," Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy said at a briefing.
Syrian
opposition forces violated the truce more than 300 times since the
ceasefire came into force, killing 153 Syrian personnel and 63
civilians, the Russian General Staff said.
"In
the provinces of Aleppo and Hama, opposition units used the ceasefire
to regroup, get more ammunition and prepare for an offensive to
capture more territories, while the Syrian troops have ceased combat
operations," Lt. Gen. Vladimir Savchenko said.
"The
joint US-Russian statement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria
reached on February 22, 2016 says that our states 'will also work
together…to delineate the territory held by Daesh, al-Nusra Front
and other terrorist organizations designated by the UN Security
Council.' Unfortunately, our US colleagues still have not made any
real steps in this direction," the Russian Defense Ministry
said.
"In
the past 24 hours alone, the number of shelling attacks by militant
groups reached 53 episodes. The cessation of hostilities regime has
been violated a total of 302 times since it came into effect. During
this period, 63 civilians died and 252 were injured, Syrian armed
forces lost 153 service members," Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy,
the head of the Russian Chief of the General Staff's Main Operational
Directorate, said.
As
a reminder, several months ago, in a loudly ridiculed development,
the US said it would boost its support for the "moderate Syrian
opposition" when it announced, rather comically, that it would
sever its ties with the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra front.
The
Russian General Staff also added that it suspects the US of attempts
to create such a situation in Syria to accuse Moscow and Damascus of
disrupting the delivery of humanitarian aid. The issue of providing
humanitarian access to besieged areas of Aleppo has also not been
resolved, Rudskoy added, stressing that opposition fighters have
failed to adhere to the agreement and to set up a checkpoint to allow
aid convoys to pass through safely. "Armed groups under US
control have not set up a checkpoint in the eastern part of the
Castello road [north of Aleppo] and have not handed it over to the
Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Fighters, weapons and equipment have not
been withdrawn from Castello."
Meanwhile,
U.N. officials have blamed Damascus for blocking aid deliveries to
other besieged, rebel-held areas.
Perhaps
as a result of the deteriorating "deal" conditions, the
Syrian army had yet to announce any extension of the seven-day
ceasefire it declared on Sept. 12, which was due to expire at 11:59
p.m. (2059 GMT) on Sunday, according to the statement issued by the
army command when the truce was announced.
*
* *
As
Reuters adds, the Syrian government and its allies have mostly
focused their firepower on western areas of the country that are of
greatest significance to Assad, including the main cities of
Damascus, Homs, Hama, Latakia, Tartous and Aleppo.
The
plan
ned
evacuation of several hundred rebels from the last opposition-held
district of Homs, al-Waer, has also endangered the deal. Rebels said
that plan would amount to the government declaring the truce over.
The
Homs governor Talal Barazi said the evacuation had been postponed due
to "logistical obstacles", and negotiating committees were
completing the preparations, state TV reported. He told journalists
it would take place on Tuesday morning. Barazi said on Sunday
that between 250 to 300 rebels were due to be evacuated from Waer, on
Monday. The opposition say such evacuations are part of a government
strategy to forcibly displace its opponents after years of siege and
bombardment. The government has been seeking to conclude local
agreements with rebels in besieged areas to give them safe passage to
the insurgent stronghold of Idlib in northwestern Syria.
In
any case, absent some dramatic change in the negative sentiment to
have emerged between the fighting factions and their proxy
supporters, the deal appears to be largely finished. A collapse of
the ceasefire, a major project of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry,
could doom any chance of the administration of President Barack Obama
negotiating a breakthrough on Syria before it leaves office in
January.
The mouthpieces of Empire cannot admitted they abetted ISIS so they come up with a it-for-tat story
The mouthpieces of Empire cannot admitted they abetted ISIS so they come up with a it-for-tat story
Normally, Radio NZ wouldn't know the truth if they tripped over, but somehow this piece made it onto air. The ignorance of the interviewer is palpable.
Even here half the story was left out - that ISIS were the beneficiaries of the entire Operation
Even here half the story was left out - that ISIS were the beneficiaries of the entire Operation
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