Syrian military declares ceasefire to be over

The Syrian military has declared a U.S.-Russia brokered ceasefire over just a week after it began.

“Syria’s army announces the end of the freeze on fighting that began at 07:00 pm (1600 UTC) on September 12, 2016 in accordance with the U.S.-Russia agreement,” the general command of the armed forces said in a statement carried by Syria’s state-run SANA news agency.

{mosads}The statement blamed rebel groups for failing to uphold the ceasefire, which it said had “a real chance to stop the bloodshed.”

The Syrian military’s statement comes after a senior opposition figure said earlier Monday the ceasefire was “clinically dead” after hundreds of reported violations by the government, according to The Associated Press.

The ceasefire officially started last Monday after months of negotiations between the United States and Russia.

Under the deal, the United States and Russia were to begin coordinating militarily to target terrorists in Syria if the ceasefire held for seven days and humanitarian aid was delivered to Aleppo and other besieged areas.

U.S. officials said the ceasefire was largely holding last week despite violations and a lack of fulfillment of the aid delivery provision of the deal. But it began to tatter over the weekend as aid continued to be delayed and warplanes began striking rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Sunday.

A U.S. airstrike Saturday that Russia says killed 62 Syrian troops further strained the ceasefire.

U.S. officials have said hitting the Syrian troops was a mistake and that the strike was intended to hit the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Syrian President Bashar Assad called the strike “blatant American aggression,” according to the AP.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York that the ceasefire was “holding but fragile,” according to the AP.

He also said humanitarian aid was on its way to besieged areas.

“Did pretty well last night; trucks are moving today to maybe eight locations or more,” Kerry said, according to The New York Times. “So we’ll see where we are today. Let’s wait.”

In a written statement later Monday, the State Department said it has seen the Syrian military’s comment and that it expects Russia to ensure Assad’s compliance with the ceasefire deal.

“We are prepared to extend the cessation of hostilities, while working to strengthen it and expand deliveries of assistance,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in the statement. “We will be consulting with our Russian counterparts to continue to urge them to use their influence on Assad to these ends. While we have seen comments attributed to the Syrian military, our arrangement is with Russia, which is responsible for the Syrian regime’s compliance, so we expect Russia to clarify their position.”

Updated at 1:43 p.m.