Syrian government forces captured a rebel-held area on the edge of Aleppo on Saturday, tightening their siege on opposition-held neighborhoods in the northern city as an ongoing wave of airstrikes destroyed more buildings. Russian Federation denies involvement and instead suggests Syrian rebels or a USA drone were responsible.
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UNITED NATIONS The United States on Sunday called Russia’s action in Syria “barbarism” not counter-terrorism while Moscow’s U.N. envoy said ending the war “is nearly an impossible task now” as Syrian government forces, backed by Moscow, bombed the city of Aleppo.
“They are guilty of protracting this war and making it far more ugly, and yes, I think that when it comes to instances such as the bombing of civilian targets, we should be looking at whether or not that targeting is in the knowledge that those are wholly innocent civilian targets”, Johnson said in an interview on BBC Television’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.
Particularly strong words came from US ambassador Samantha Power, who accused Russian Federation of “barbarism”, and her British counterpart, Matthew Rycroft, who said Russia’s failure to change direction would “only confirm its status as an global pariah”.
He also urged the Security Council to press for a cessation of hostilities, weekly 48-hour pauses to deliver aid, and medical evacuations for several urgent cases in eastern Aleppo.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says Russian Federation should be investigated for war crimes following an attack on a Syrian aid convoy that claimed 20 lives.
They also called on the government and Russian forces to halt airstrikes and lift sieges on opposition areas where the United Nations estimates 600,000 Syrians are trapped.
He said Russian Federation is “guilty of protracting this war, of making it far more ugly”.
We have seen reports, videos and pictures of reported use of incendiary bombs that create fireballs of such intensity that they light up the pitch darkness in eastern Aleppo as if it is actually daylight, said the Special Envoy.
Earlier the Russian Foreign Ministry hit back at Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson after he warned Moscow would be guilty of committing war crimes if its warplanes were deliberating striking civilian targets. “The US must use its might, not just its words, to stop our suffering”, he said. “Yet in Syria and in Aleppo, Russia is abusing this historic privilege”, Power said.
“That is a war crime”, he says.
But she said the US also believes it must do “everything in our power to find a way to halt the violence” and will “continue to look for any way possible to restore the cessation of hostilities”.
He said the conflict had reached “new heights of horror”.
The organization said Sunday it had reached 60,000 residents trapped in the towns of Madaya, Zabadani, Foua, and Kafraya.
“That is a war crime”.
“I think when it comes to instances such as the bombing of civilian apartments in Aleppo we should be looking at whether or not that targeting is done in the knowledge that those are wholly innocent, wholly innocent civilian targets”.
When Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari was called to speak in the council, the ambassadors of the three Western powers walked out in protest.
Rycroft said there was no question that ISIS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra were terrorists, yet the Assad regime and its allies have killed far more civilians in Syria than have those two terrorist groups put together. “That is a war crime”.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the USA believes two Russian Su-24 jets were responsible.
The area is near Castello Road, an important supply route to the city’s rebel-held areas.
“We retook the camp”, said Abu al-Hassanien, a rebel commander.
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The Observatory says 213 civilians have been killed by airstrikes and shelling on rebel-held areas in and around Aleppo since a cease-fire expired Monday.
