Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman denied on Tuesday an assertion by USA officials’ that they believe Moscow was responsible for the airstrike in the rebel-controlled town of Uram al-Kubra, west of Aleppo city.
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Both have denied that their planes carried out the strike, but the United States has reportedly reached the “preliminary conclusion” that two Russian Su-24 jets were responsible, based on the timing and location of the attack.
APPHOTO NYKH103: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, sits with United Nations envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura during the International Syria Support Group meeting Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in NY.
The Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue group known as the White Helmets that operates in rebel-held areas, posted images of several vehicles on fire.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said hope for a renewal of the ceasefire was “for now, very weak”, stressing that a truce could only be resumed if “terrorists” halted their fire.
The attack on the aid convoy is just the latest in a wave of airstrikes destroying civilian life, from roads to bakeries to hospitals to homes, says Aleppo’s Civil Defense spokesman.
Speaking about the US-led airstrike that struck Syrian forces Saturday, Thomas said the Russians called the USA military at the air operations center in Qatar not once, but twice. “Just when we think it can not get any worse, the power of depravity sinks lower”, Ban said during the UN General Assembly annual meeting.
He added countries “that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands”, and accused unnamed governments attending the United Nations meeting of ignoring, facilitating, funding, planning and carrying out “atrocities” against civilians on all sides.
United Nations humanitarian-aid spokesman Jens Laerke said on September 20 that the temporary suspension of the aid deliveries would hold “pending further assessment of the security situation”. Laerke called it “a very, very dark day. for humanitarians across the world”.
The bombing run saw 18 trucks from a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed, and at least 20 people killed.
Mr Ban blamed the Syrian government for most deaths and said it “continues to barrel bomb neighbourhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees”. At least 38 people were reportedly killed in and around Aleppo overnight.
In the week after the truce was declared on September 12, only 27 civilians were killed as fighting dropped significantly across the country. The 23-nation International Syria Support Group (ISSG) gathered in a NY hotel amid bitter recriminations between Moscow and Washington over the failure of an agreement to enforce the truce.
A Syrian military source denied any regime involvement, telling state media: “There is no truth to media reports that the Syrian army targeted a convoy of humanitarian aid in Aleppo province”. The nature of the attack wasn’t immediately clear. The U.S. expressed its “regret” over the incident, which has raised tension with Damascus’s chief ally Moscow.
Russian Federation and Syria have both insisted that their forces were not involved in the incident.
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That’s what the US government is saying, though the Russian Ministry of Defense denies it.
