Syria war sees no end as Russia and Syrian government continue blitz in Aleppo
RUSSIAN and Syrian forces continued to blitz the besieged city of Aleppo yesterday, crushing hopes of a new truce.
Syrian rebels said any peace process was futile unless fighting stopped and aid was delivered.
And they said they would not accept a deal brokered with Moscow as “it was a partner with the regime in its crimes against our people”.
The Russians themselves are actually engaged. They are guilty of protracting this war and making it far more hideous
It comes after government forces launched their first major ground offensive to seize control of a strategic point on the northern outskirts of the city on Saturday night.
The rebels reclaimed it yesterday but vehicles were damaged during a bombing campaign by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
There has been a “chilling military escalation”, according to UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon, as air strikes intensified in the rebel-held eastern side of the city.
A UN convoy was destroyed last Monday, killing 20 people, in rebel-held Urm al Kubra, leaving the previous peace deal in tatters.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the US believes two Russian Su-24 jets were responsible.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Russian forces could be guilty of war crimes if civilians had been targeted.
He said: “Putin’s regime is not only as it were handing Assad the revolver, he is in some instances firing the revolver himself.
The Russians themselves are actually engaged. They are guilty of protracting this war and making it far more hideous.
“I think when it comes to instances such as the bombing of civilian apartments in Aleppo we should be looking at whether or not that targeting is done in the knowledge that those are wholly innocent civilian targets. That is a war crime.”
A statement from more than 30 rebel groups, including the faction backed by the West, said the bombing campaign which killed dozens of people in the past few days was “unprecedented”.
It also cast doubt on future peace deals, saying they could not accept “Russia as a sponsor because it was a partner with the regime in its crimes against our people.”
Syria: UN’s Ban Ki-moon ‘appalled by chilling military escalation’ in Aleppo
“Russian-backed Syrian forces were using napalm and chemical weapons without censure by the international community, the statement said.
The previous ceasefire was reached after a deal was reached between the US and Russia.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was “appalled by the chilling military escalation”.
His spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “There have been repeated reports of air strikes involving the use of incendiary weapons and advanced munitions such as bunker-buster bombs.
“The secretary-general considers this a dark day for the global commitment to protect civilians.”
The UN Security Council discussed the fighting yesterday.