Mr Kerry’s suggestion of grounding aircraft over aid routes was one way to revive hopes, but it was far from clear that Syria or Russian Federation would agree.
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White House spokesman Ben Rhodes later said: “There only could have been two entities responsible, either the Syrian regime or the Russian government”.
“The reported strike occurred when a Russian plane was directly overhead”.
A U.S. official told AFP that Washington believes Russian aircraft carried out the strike and that there were two Su-24 jets operating in the area at the time.
Speaking earlier about Monday’s attack on the aid convoy, United States officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two Russian SU-24 attack aircraft were in the sky above the convoy at the precise moment it was hit in Urum al-Kubra.
An exasperated John Kerry called out Russian Federation for its support of Syria’s regime amid the collapse of a ceasefire, accusing Moscow of enabling President Bashar Assad to violate the truce meant to let in humanitarian relief and lead to negotiations in the civil war.
“We can confirm that NONE of our aircraft – manned or unmanned, USA or Coalition – were anywhere in the vicinity of Aleppo when the strike against the humanitarian convoy occurred”, Pentagon spokesperson Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement Wednesday. Both militaries use Su-24 fighter jets.
By sending the Admiral Kuznetsov to Syria’s shores, Russian Federation would significantly beef up its forces there. The Syrian military declared Monday night the truce had expired, shortly before presumed Russian or Syrian government jets launched a sustained aerial attack on Aleppo’s opposition-held neighborhoods.
“Only its owners know why the drone was in the area at the right time and what kind of tasks it was pursuing there”, the general said.
The International Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations says an airstrike Tuesday night in northern Syria leveled a medical triage point in rebel-held territory outside the contested city of Aleppo.
An airstrike in northern Syria killed four medics responding to an earlier bombing raid, a relief group said Wednesday, as the United Nations announced it would resume aid deliveries suspended after an attack on a convoy two days ago that killed 20 people.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking at the United Nations, said Russia’s claims were “contradicted by public information”.
“Only the drone’s owners know what it was doing there at the necessary moment and what tasks it was carrying out”, Konashenkov said in a statement, saying Russian Federation was not drawing any conclusions about the drone’s presence.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wants all aircraft over key humanitarian routes in northern Syria grounded in order to give peace a chance. The convoy was carrying United Nations aid. Russian Federation responded by saying that this actually aided Islamic State group militants in the area, while Moscow also denounced Washington’s refusal to take measures to force rebels under its control to fall in line with the terms of the Syrian cease-fire. The pilot was rescued, according to an unnamed military official quoted on state TV.
The town is besieged by government forces.
The militant group downed a government aircraft Sunday in the eastern Deir el-Zour province.
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The Observatory says the plane crashed in the eastern Qalamoun mountains, northwest of Damascus. UOSSM confirmed in a statement that at least four of its staff had been killed.
