21 killed in strikes on Syrian aid convoy

Syrian or Russian aircraft struck an aid convoy near Aleppo, killing 12 people on Monday, a war monitor reported, as the Syrian military declared a one-week truce over.

The Syrian government blamed rebel forces for the apparent collapse of the shaky ceasefire, alleging that rebels had breached the deal 300 times; rebel forces meanwhile held the government accountable, with some rebel leaders claiming the Syrian government had broken the truce on more than 250 occasions.

"We will be consulting with our Russian counterparts to continue to urge them to use their influence on Assad to these ends".

The Syrian military is believed to have carried out the airstrikes, though as of yet this is not confirmed, and the Syrian military has not commented on the attack.

Following the attack, a senior Obama administration official said of the ceasefire: "We don't know if it can be salvaged".

Laerke said on Tuesday that the United Nations aid coordinator had received needed authorizations from the Syrian government in recent days to allow for aid convoys to proceed within Syria.

"Considering that the conditions of the ceasefire are not being respected by the rebels, we consider it pointless for the Syrian government forces to respect it unilaterally", said Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy.

The attack could only have been carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime or his Russian allies and Moscow must take responsibility either way, U.S. officials said.

MOD says it can "confirm that the United Kingdom participated in the recent coalition airstrike in Syria, south of Deir el-Zour on Saturday, and we are fully cooperating with the coalition investigation".

US Secretary of State John Kerry criticised the Syrian declaration, saying: "It would be good if they didn't talk first to the press but if they talked to the people who are actually negotiating this".

The convoy had received the proper permits from all warring parties in the conflict, and the US, Russia, and the Assad regime had all been notified of the route and timings.

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.

Both Russia and the Syrian regime had said that opposition rebels, which they both refer to as "terrorists", had not complied with the ceasefire agreement, forcing their hand in several attacks during the seven-day "regime of calm".

The United Nations and aid agencies said their 31-truck convoy was attacked on Monday night but has not said whether it was hit by an airstrike or shelling, or in any other way.

The UN Security Council will also hold a session on Syria on Wednesday, but statements from Syrian and Russian military officials appeared to bury hopes of reviving the truce deal.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that 29 children and teenagers are among those killed, as well as 17 women.

Aid was delivered to the besieged town of Talbiseh in Homs province Monday, the Red Cross said, for the first time since July.

The ceasefire came into effect on September 12.

Officials said the strikes killed more than 60 soldiers.

Russian planes have supported the regime's air force in hitting hospitals and refugee camps, she said, before going on to accuse the regime of "bombing in defiance of the cessation of hostilities".

Russia's military has said that it was told by the Syrian army that at least 62 Syrian soldiers were killed in the Deir el-Zour air raid and more than 100 wounded.