Air strikes hit Aleppo as Syria ceasefire expires

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that four air strikes hit rebel-held parts of Aleppo, as the seven-day truce in Syria expired on Monday. The assault came as Russia criticized the U.S. for air raids that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers in Deir al-Zour on Sunday. Amid a bitter row between Washington and Moscow, Australia admitted that its aircraft were involved in the U.S.-led air strikes that mistakenly killed Syrian troops.

President Bashar al-Assad’s media adviser Bouthaina Shaaban rejected America’s explanation that the strike on Syrian army was an unintentional mistake, saying that a superpower like the U.S. cannot make errors in targeting the troops, writes the BBC.

The “error,” admitted by the Pentagon, is likely to erode the limited trust between the U.S. and Russia, further diminishing the prospects of any coordinated strikes against IS and the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham group, as previously agreed by the two countries.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull regretted the loss of life and injury to any Syrian personnel but at the same time, slammed Damascus for politicizing the error, reports The Guardian. Turnbull’s remark after he was asked whether Syria’s move to raise the issue in the U.N. was hypocritical.