In what the White House calls an “enormous humanitarian tragedy” Russian war planes are said to have launched an air strike on an aid convoy. 18 out of 31 lorries were destroyed and about 20 civilians were killed including a senior official of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Russia strongly denies any involvement stating that their planes were not responsible and the attack was caused by fire on the ground.
Russia’s defence ministry stated, “There are no craters and the exterior of the vehicles do not have the kind of damage consistent with blasts caused by bombs dropped from the air.” Meanwhile the foreign ministry spokeswoman announced that the US had “no facts” to support their claim adding “We have nothing to do with this situation.”
US officials continued further on the convoy attack saying that two Russian SU-24 attack aircraft were in the air over the convoy at the exact moment it was hit in Urum al-Kubra. They claim the attack was too precise to be carried out by the Syrian army.
White House spokesman Ben Rhodes later said, “There only could have been two entities responsible, either the Syrian regime or the Russian government.
“In any event, we hold the Russian government responsible for airstrikes in this space.”
The UN however have stated they are in no position to determine if these were air strikes. Since the attack all aid convoys have been suspended in Syria by the UN.
Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross has said the attack was a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law” saying it could amount to a war crime.
