The United Nations is appealing to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups to allow aid convoys to enter eastern Aleppo as UN relief operations in Syria resumed after a 48-hour suspension due to a deadly attack. But in his power base in the Syrian capital, President Bashar Assad projected confidence – conceding nothing to his critics, and accusing the USA of derailing a cease-fire and lacking the “will” to fight extremists in his country.
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Syria’s five-year-old war pits Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Arab Shi’ite Muslim militias against a myriad of Sunni Muslim rebel groups, including some supported by the United States, Turkey and Gulf Arab states. The Syrian government announced Monday that it was unilaterally ending the cease-fire, as we reported.
US officials believe Russian aircraft were responsible for the strike, but Moscow has denied involvement and the Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday a US Predator drone was in the area when the convoy was attacked.
President Bashar al Assad: “No, no”.
Syrian President Bashar Assad says USA airstrikes on Syrian troops in the country’s east were “definitely intentional”, lasting for an hour, and blamed the US for the collapse of a cease-fire deal brokered with Russian Federation.
During the week-long truce, there was a lull in violence rather than a halt.
Syria and the United States have been at loggerheads since an airstrike by the US -led coalition that hit Syrian troops in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour on Saturday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called it a “terrible accident”. You don’t commit a mistake for more than one hour.
Assad said he believed the US-led coalition airstrike against a Syrian army base that killed at least 62 soldiers on Saturday was a deliberate act.
The attack on the aid convoy outside Aleppo took place Monday night, hitting a warehouse as aid workers unloaded cargo and triggering huge explosions.
Assad denied any hospitals were purposely targeted.
The ancient city, now partly destroyed, has been carved out into rebel and government-controlled areas since 2012. “So, we don’t have any idea about what happened”.
Assad cast doubt on the intentions of the United States in Syria, saying it “doesn’t have the will” to fight militants. However, as NPR’s Alison Meuse reported, an eyewitness said that “the attack consisted of helicopters and warplanes”. But in heavy bombardment over the following weeks, more than 700 civilians were killed.
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During the course of the AP interview, Assad also repeatedly denied assertions that his government’s troops have carried out a broad range of human rights abuses and criminal actions, insisting that such actions would defy logic.
