Share

Syrian army, Russian aviation repel rebel attack near Aleppo -RIA

Al-Halaby said that rebels in Aleppo province also claimed Russian aircraft were behind the attack.

Advertisement

Britain’s Press Association news agency reported that an unmanned Reaper drone may have been involved.

Aid convoys for four Syrian towns will be postponed as staff reassess security after a deadly attack on relief trucks and intensified violence, a senior official from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday.

If Monday’s air strike on a United Nations aid convoy in Syria “is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime”, United Nations aid chief Stephen O’Brian has said.

An worldwide aid convoy has been hit by an air strike while delivering aid to 78,000 people in the hard-to-reach town of Urm al-Kubra in Syria.

It was not clear who carried out the attacks.

Washington said coalition forces believed they were hitting a fighting position held by the Islamic State jihadist group but has also said it will investigate the incident. Initial estimates indicated that at least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit.

Syrian or Russian warplanes bombed aid trucks near Aleppo after a fragile week-long ceasefire ended as it appeared the bloody five-year war was fully back on late on Monday. The ceasefire had been called specifically to allow aid into some of the most desperate parts of Syria.

United Nations aid chief Stephen O’Brien said: “Let me be clear: if this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime”.

The aid was “intended for people in dire need”. The area west of the city is reportedly rebel held. “It is premature to say we have any real clarity with what we will conclude contributed to the situation”, the official told The Hill.

CNN can not confirm its authenticity nor claims made in the video that the Syrian regime was responsible for the strikes.

The convoy, part of a routine interagency dispatch operated by the Syrian Red Crescent, was hit in rural western Aleppo province.

On Tuesday, SARC said it will suspend operations for three days as a result of the attack.

This marks a “very, very dark day for humanitarians in Syria and indeed across the world”, he said, stressing that it was “paramount that we are able to establish the facts through an independent investigation”.

Russian Federation and the United States were quick to blame each other for contributing to the latest deadly violence.

Twitter users on Monday posted still images taken from a Russian livestream of Aleppo, saying they showed the convoy that was later attacked.

The U.S. initially brushed off Damascus’ assertions and said it was prepared to extend the agreement, while Russian Federation – after blaming rebels for the violations – suggested it could still be salvaged.

More than 300,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011.

“The attack deprived thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance”, the joint statement said.

Aid deliveries to the besieged eastern districts of Aleppo have not reached their destination.

Advertisement

A paramedic, speaking in a video released by Aleppo 24 News, a media collective, blamed Russian and government warplanes as well as Syrian army helicopter gunships that he said dropped barrel bombs. “The convoy was the outcome of long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians”.

Syria truce hangs in the balance amid attacks, lack of aid