The Corbyn aide who thinks the West’s attacks on IS are moral equivalent of Russia bombing Aleppo’s children

JEREMY Corbyn faced calls to sack his closest aide last night over ‘sickening’ suggestions that British and US raids against Islamic State in Syria were as bad as Russian bombing of Aleppo.

In an extraordinary briefing yesterday, Labour spin doctor Seumas Milne said media focus on Russia’s role ‘diverts attention’ from the ‘atrocities’ caused by Western bombing.

He said: ‘The focus on Russian atrocities or Syrian army atrocities… sometimes diverts attention from other atrocities that are taking place. Independent assessments are that there have been very large-scale civilian casualties as a result of US-led coalition bombing.

‘There are several cases of large numbers of civilian deaths in single attacks and there hasn’t been so much attention on those atrocities. Both the US and British authorities have been reluctant to accept any independent assessment of those.’

Asked if the UK was as culpable as Russia for the bloodshed in Syria, he said: ‘We are not in the business of allocating blame.’ The Labour leader’s spokesman suggested the likes of Boris Johnson – who has calling for protests at the Russian embassy – should consider similar demonstrations against the US and Britain for their coalition’s military action.

It came as Russian-backed Syrian forces carried out more indiscriminate bombing in Aleppo to crush opposition to dictator Bashar alAssad. Mr Milne’s comments prompted a furious backlash. Brendan Cox – husband of Syria campaigner Jo, the Labour MP who was shot and stabbed to death in June – said: ‘This isn’t just wrong, it’s absolutely disgraceful.’

And John Woodcock, one of 66 Labour MPs to back military intervention in Syria, said: ‘This absurdity seems like a deliberate provocation, unworthy of our leader and our party.’

Fellow Labour MP Jamie Reed called for Mr Milne to go, saying: ‘Whoever said this should be sacked.’ Downing Street said Mr Milne had been wrong to compare Western action against IS with indiscriminate bombing of civilians by Russia and its allies.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘We are very clear on minimising civilian casualties. There are measures in place for that.’

In a rebuke to Mr Milne, she added: ‘By the fact we were sponsoring a UN Security Council resolution that calls for the end of the bombardment of the people of Aleppo and Russia vetoed that resolution – that is quite a contrast. We should all be putting pressure on Russia to end the bombardment.’

Russia stands accused of a string of war crimes in Syria, including the assault on Aleppo and the bombing of a UN aid convoy last month that shattered a fragile truce in the civil war.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces to shore up the Assad regime, which is widely held to be guilty of war crimes including the use chemical weapons against its people.

Mr Milne insisted Mr Corbyn was opposed to all military action in Syria, including Russia’s.

But the Labour leader has ducked calls to publicly condemn Russian aggression in Syria in recent weeks.

Labour MPs are also concerned about his close links with the hard-Left Stop the War Coalition, of which he was chairman until last year.

Its vice- chairman Chris Nineham yesterday dismissed the idea of protests outside the Russian embassy, saying it would increase ‘hysteria and jingoism that is being whipped up at the moment against Russia’.

The row came as bombs continued to rain down on Aleppo yesterday.

An air strike on the city’s biggest market killed at least 15 and razed buildings as rescuers were sifting through the rubble to find the dead from the previous day.

It followed ground- penetrating bombs killing at least eight in the Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood.

It brought the death toll to at least 358 civilians since September 19.

Pope Francis begged for a ceasefire to save children from ‘cruel bombardments’ as an Aleppo gravedigger said he ‘envied the dead’. About 270,000 people, including 100,000 children, are trapped in the east of the city.

Pablo Marco, of Doctors Without Borders, said: ‘The whole world is witnessing the suffering of east Aleppo, a population trapped in a bloody battle without any chance to escape.’

‘This isn’t just wrong, it’s disgraceful’