US, Russia spar at UN
> Syrian forces bomb rebel-held refugee camp, residential areas
DAMASCUS: The United States accused Russia of “barbarism” in Syria on Sunday as warplanes supporting Syrian government forces pounded Aleppo and Moscow said ending the civil war was almost “impossible”.
A diplomatic solution to the fighting looked unlikely as US and Russian diplomats disagreed at a UN Security Council meeting called to discuss the violence, which has escalated since a ceasefire collapsed last week.
Rebels, who are battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces for control of Aleppo, said any peace process would be futile unless the “scorched earth bombing” stopped immediately.
Capturing the rebel-held half of Syria’s largest city, where more than 250,000 civilians are trapped, would be the biggest victory of the civil war for Assad’s forces.
They have achieved their strongest position in years thanks to Russian and Iranian support and launched a fresh offensive for a decisive battlefield victory on Thursday. Residents and rebels say thousands have been killed in the strikes.
“What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counter-terrorism, it is barbarism,” US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power told the council.
“Instead of pursuing peace, Russia and Assad make war. Instead of helping get lifesaving aid to civilians, Russia and Assad are bombing the humanitarian convoys, hospitals, and first responders who are trying desperately to keep people alive.”
The French and British foreign ministers also took aim at Russia, saying it could be guilty of war crimes. But Russia defended its position. “In Syria, hundreds of armed groups are being armed, the territory of the country is being bombed indiscriminately and bringing a peace is almost an impossible task now because of this,” Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.
In the first major advance of the new offensive, Syrian forces seized control of the Handarat Palestinian refugee camp, north of Aleppo.
Rebels counter-attacked and said on Sunday they had retaken the camp before the bombing started.
“We retook the camp, but the regime burnt it with phosphorous bombs,” said Abu al-Hassanien, a commander in a rebel operations room that includes the main brigades fighting to repel the army assault.
The army, which is also being helped by Iranian-backed militias, Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah militants and a Palestinian militia, acknowledged rebels had retaken Handarat.
“The Syrian army is targeting the armed groups’ positions in Handarat camp,” a military source was quoted on state media as saying.
Planes continued to pound residential areas on Sunday, flattening buildings, rebels and residents said. – Reuters