国际英语新闻:32 killed in Aleppo after truce expires

DAMASCUS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 32 people were killed and many more wounded in the northern province of Aleppo on Monday, in the first hours after a U.S.-Russian truce expired, a monitor group reported.

Over 40 airstrikes were carried against rebel-held areas in Aleppo and its countryside Monday, just hours after a week-long ceasefire expired without any extension.

Twelve of those killed were drivers of aid convoys of the Red Crescent, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said the death toll could likely rise due to the high number of critically wounded people.

Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said the rebel groups attacked military positions on Monday afternoon in the 1070 residential area in the southern countryside of Aleppo. It added that the Syrian forces repelled the attack, inflicting losses on the assailants.

In the central province of Hama, the Syrian forces killed 25 rebels with the Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, adding that those rebels attacked several military positions in the northern countryside of Hama before they were pushed back.

The Syrian army announced Monday the end of the Russian-U.S. brokered truce in Syria, without talking about possible extension, according to SANA.

The Syrian army said the seven-day truce that was brokered by the United States and Russia ended Monday, as previously declared.

Still, the army didn't speak of any possible extension to the week-long truce, but accused the rebels of committing over 300 violations to the truce.

"The terrorists have taken advantage of the ceasefire to amass themselves and continue to attack residential areas and military positions, mainly in the provinces of Hama, Qunaitera, and Aleppo," the military statement said.

The statement said the military forces have practiced high self-restraint, and responded in a few cases when it had to do so to silence the fire sources of the rebels.

It renewed old pledges that the army will continue to fight terrorism until restoring peace and stability to Syria.

Last Monday, a Russian-U.S. ceasefire was implemented in Syria, bringing relative calm to the most troubled areas, including Aleppo.

Still, both warring parties traded accusations of breaching the ceasefire, which was deemed as a good chance to bring the bloodletting in Syria to a close.