UN CONCEDES THERE’S LITTLE IT CAN DO ABOUT ‘CATASTROPHE’ IN ALEPPO

Russia and Syria faced a growing chorus of international condemnation over their actions in Aleppo, but UN officials conceded Thursday there was little they could do beyond shaming the two countries for what they are calling “war crimes.”

UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien told the Security Council that with the Syrian army’s encirclement, eastern Aleppo has descended into the “merciless abyss of humanitarian catastrophe.”

“Besiegement, it’s not a weapon of war, it is a flagrant, unjustifiable breach of the law — law which the besieging parties have signed up to,” O’Brien said. “Even if not today, one day there will be no hiding place for the individuals and institutions callously, cynically perpetrating these war crimes.”