A convoy delivering aid to Syrians in Aleppo province was hit by a deadly air strike killing 12 people hours after the Syrian military declared an end to a week-long ceasefire, with an outraged UN warning it could amount to a war crime.
The UN said at least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late yesterday en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Orum al-Kubra.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers had died in the strike while UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said initial reports indicated "many people" were killed or seriously wounded.
"Let me be clear: if this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," O'Brien said.
The Observatory was unable to confirm if the planes responsible were Syrian or Russian.
The UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian mission had sought to take advantage of the ceasefire, which collapsed last night as shells and bombs rained down on Aleppo city and the surrounding province.
The Observatory said a total of 36 people had died in the violence across the battleground region. An AFP correspondent inside Aleppo city reported almost non-stop bombardment and constant sirens.
Syria's military announced the end to the truce earlier yesterday, accusing rebels of more than 300 violations and failing to "commit to a single element" of the US-Russia deal.
The ceasefire, which came into force on September 12, saw an initial drop in fighting but violence began to escalate late last week and the deal came under severe strain over the weekend.
US Secretary of State John Kerry had warned that the truce could be the "last chance" to save the country.
The attack on the convoy is likely to provoke anger at the UN General Assembly in New York, with the delivery of aid to desperate Syrian civilians in rebel-held areas stressed as a key condition of the deal by Washington.
The US, Russia and other key players are set to gather there for talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict that has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions.
"Our outrage at this attack is enormous," the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters.
"The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians."
The United States said it was outraged at the attack and stressed that the destination of the convoy was known to the Syrian regime and its ally, Russia.
Aid distribution to Syrian civilians caught up in the conflict had already faced severe difficulties.
The UN held back deliveries destined for Aleppo city because it was unable to obtain security guarantees.
Jan Egeland, head of the UN humanitarian task force for Syria, said the convoy was bombed despite aid agencies coordinating their movements with all sides on the ground.
A Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouse was also hit, a UN spokesman said.
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