The UN said on Tuesday, it had suspended all humanitarian aid convoys in Syria after a deadly air raid hit trucks delivering aid near Aleppo, killing a Red Crescent staff member and civilians.
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Ibrahim Alhaj told The Associated Press that Syrian civilians will pay the price for the decision – and that the United Nations should have condemned the attacks on the convoy rather than suspending aid.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby earlier said Washington was “outraged” about the attack and would be raising the matter directly with Russian Federation, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian army also denied blame.
At least 78,000 people are believed to be in need of immediate aid in the surrounding area.
The Syrian military command added the armed terrorist groups took advantage of the declared truce and mobilized troops and weapons and regrouped to continue its attacks on civilian and military areas. But he said the fire in the air convoy “strangely began” during a “massive rebel offensive” in the northern city of Aleppo. Initial estimates indicate that about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area.
“We are deeply shocked that humanitarian workers and missions have yet again suffered from the brutality of this conflict”, Ingy Sedky, of the International Committee of the Red Cross told AFP. “The team is in shock”.
“We responsibly say that neither the Russian nor the Syrian air force conducted any strikes on the United Nations aid convoy on the south-western outskirts of Aleppo”.
The Syrian Red Crescent trucks were hit in Urm al Kubra, a town near Aleppo, Reuters news agency reported.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in NY where both sides have suggested a fragile truce between some factions in the war that was brokered by the two countries could be salvaged.
Washington was “outraged”, said US State Department spokesman John Kirby.
Both also condemned the USA -led air coalition for killing dozens of Syrian soldiers Saturday in strikes that Washington said were an accident, mistaking them for Islamic State militant group (ISIS) fighters.
“There is no truth to reports carried by some media outlets that the Syrian Arab Army targeted a humanitarian aid convoy in the Aleppo countryside”, Sana said on Tuesday, quoting a source in the Syrian army.
The ministry statement came after the Russian military said that continuing rebel violations made it “meaningless” for the Syrian army to respect the deal.
The raids came as what is likely to be the final attempt by the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama to find a negotiated solution to the five year old civil war appeared close to collapse.
The strike on the convoy “raises very serious questions about whether the Russians can deliver”, a senior administration official said in a briefing with reporters Monday.
“We will have to reflect on whether there are ways back to negotiations on a truce or if this has become hopeless”, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. “The important thing is that the Russians need to control Assad, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing”, hesaid.
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Elsewhere at least 20 civilians, including a one-year-old girl, were killed in fresh airstrikes on rebel-held parts of Aleppo city and surrounding areas on Monday, according to the Observatory. “Now I can hear the sound of helicopters overhead. The last two were barrel bombs”.
