http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/world/middleeast/syria-aid-john-kerry.html 2016-09-20 10:16:36 Aid Convoy Is Hit in Syria as Cease-Fire Falters and Bombings Resume The convoy attack and resumed bombings were the strongest signs yet of the unraveling of an agreement between Russia and the United States aimed at restarting peace talks to end the conflict in Syria. === BEIRUT, Lebanon — A humanitarian aid convoy was attacked in The convoy attack, military declaration and bombings were the strongest signs yet of the gradual unraveling of a broader agreement between Minutes after the Syrian military declared the cease-fire over around sunset, aerial attacks began pummeling insurgent-occupied neighborhoods of Aleppo, residents reported. The few remaining hospitals were back to overflowing, and rescuers struggled to find people in the dark, with the electricity out. By midnight, 34 people were reported killed. United Nations officials were dumbfounded by the attack on the convoy of 31 trucks, which was escorted by the “Our outrage at this attack is enormous,” said Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special representative on Syria. “The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians.” At least 18 of the trucks were hit, United Nations officials said. Jan Egeland, a United Nations aid adviser to the Syria peace effort, said in a Members of the Red Crescent and local activists said at least 12 people were killed, including the local head of the organization, Omar Baraka. Witnesses and rescuers said the convoy appeared to have been hit by multiple airstrikes, first destroying trucks and then two more hitting rescue workers as they helped the wounded. The tactic, known as a “double-tap” strike, has been used by Syrian and Russian warplanes. The rebels have no aircraft. The attack appeared to be the first airstrike to hit an aid convoy since the conflict began in 2011. The United Nations also reported the disruption of a second convoy that had finally received travel permits but was stopped in Homs Province by government forces that removed its medical supplies. Secretary of State “The Syrians didn’t make the deal; the Russians made the agreement,” Mr. Kerry said during meetings in New York before the annual United Nations General Assembly. “The important thing is the Russians need to control Assad who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys.” Mr. Kerry planned to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, before the International Syria Support Group, the multinational body that has designed the plans for a reduction in violence and a political solution for Syria, assembles in New York on Tuesday morning. Still, a senior Obama administration official said Monday evening that it was unclear if the agreement could be salvaged. He also noted that the United States did not know if Syrian or Russian aircraft had carried out the attack In any case, a second administration official said, the attack cast doubt on the viability of the American goals. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions. The Russians, however, defended the Syrian military. A senior Defense Ministry official in Moscow said it was “senseless” for the Syrian government to respect a cease-fire that he said had been repeatedly violated by Mr. Assad’s enemies. The Russian official, Lt. Gen. Sergei F. Rudskoi, accused American-backed Syrian rebel groups of joining forces with extremists who have been denounced as terrorists by both Moscow and Washington. In a statement published in state news media, the Syrian Army’s general command placed blame on insurgents, saying they had violated the cease-fire and that the foreign powers backing them were supporting terrorism. After the Syrian military statement, residents in rebel-held sections of Aleppo reported intense aerial attacks, shattering the relative calm that the partial cease-fire had provided for the past week. Medical workers and residents reported at least 25 barrel bombs falling in less than an hour. Two were described as larger than usual, similar to garbage Dumpsters packed with shrapnel, and another attack was described as a ballistic missile strike. It had already become clear that the cease-fire was in trouble. It was not close to achieving the ambitious goals — notably the renewal of moribund talks about a political transition — that the United States and Russia set out when they declared the truce without clear endorsements from the combatants in Syria. What was meant to be a confidence-building measure, between Russia and the United States as much as between the groups in Syria, instead became a new source of acrimony. The new developments cast doubt on a plan by Russia and the United States to jointly attack groups in Syria that both countries consider terrorist threats. The situation worsened on Saturday night when “Terrorist groups did not adhere to any of the points of the agreement,” the Syrian Army said in a statement. It added that the military, which refers to all armed opponents as terrorists, had shown great restraint in the face of what it said were 300 truce violations by insurgents. The opposition said the government had committed 250 violations. The government’s resumption of aerial attacks included strikes on Idlib, Daraa, the Damascus suburbs and other locations, with reports of multiple casualties, including children. Russia has repeatedly accused the United States of failing to draw a clear line between the more moderate rebel groups it supports and extremist groups like the Islamic State and the Nusra Front, now known as the Levant Conquest Front, which are also fighting against the Syrian government. In recent days, Moscow has escalated the tone of its assertions, saying that Washington was supporting terrorists. In Washington, the Pentagon said it was investigating the exact makeup of the Syrian troops who were killed on Saturday. A Defense Department official said that the strikes occurred at a Syrian military encampment where certain Syrian soldiers who had fallen out of favor with the military, and who were not wearing uniforms, were being detained. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still underway, said no conclusions had yet been reached.