Either way, Russian Federation is saying the evidence doesn’t point to airstrikes to begin with, noting there were no craters from where the strikes hit, and the exterior of the vehicles was not damaged in a way consistent with exterior attack from bombs.
Advertisement
A section of the Russian footage was also released, which Mr Konashenkov said “clearly shows” rebels driving a pick-up truck and a mortar, using the convoy as cover.
“Analysis of the yesterday’s drone footage monitoring the movement of the aid convoy through the militant-held areas helped to reveal new details,”he said”.
At least 20 civilians along with the local chief of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), Omar Barakat, were killed as they were unloading trucks.
The convoy, which was being escorted by the SARC was among the first to try to deliver aid to rebel-held areas under the ceasefire agreement that was brokered by the United States and Russian Federation. The damage inficted on the trucks was “the direct result of the cargo catching fire, which mysteriously began at the same time as a large scale rebel attack on Aleppo”, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
U.S. military officials have accused Russian jets of having carried out the deadly attack.
Advertisement
Yesterday’s apparently airstrikes against a United Nations aid convoy, destroying between 18-20 trucks and killing some 14 Red Crescent volunteers took multiple turns today, with the U.S. claiming they believe that a pair of Russian warplanes attacked the convoy, potentially as “revenge” for the American attack on a Syrian military base the day before, which killed 83 soldiers. There are also allegations that Syrian planes carried out the attack. “We have nothing to do with this situation”, she said noting that the claims were baseless. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.
