US accuses Russia of committing ‘barbarism’

neW YorK: The United States accused Moscow of “barbarism” over the carnage in Aleppo, as Syrian and Russian planes pounded the city in one of the heaviest bombing raids of the five-year war.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to demand Russia rein in its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and halt intense air strikes, Moscow and Damascus were repeatedly accused of war crimes.

“What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counter-terrorism. It is barbarism,” US Ambassador Samantha Power said at the Sunday session.

Some 124 people, mostly civilians, have died since bunker-busting bombs and sophisticated weaponry were unleashed on residential areas in rebel-held eastern Aleppo after the army launched an operation to take it on Thursday.

“It is difficult to deny that Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes,” said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, adding that the high-tech weaponry inflicted “a new hell” on war-weary Syrians.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also warned the use of advanced weaponry against civilians could amount to war crimes, and French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the atrocities must not go unpunished.

Britain, France and the United States had called for the urgent talks after days of intense diplomatic efforts to salvage a US-Russian ceasefire deal ended in failure on the weekend.