Assad’s refugee camp bombing ‘is a war crime’

SYRIAN president Bashar al-Assad has been accused of war crimes after two missiles struck a refugee camp close to the Turkish border killing at least 28.

International leaders yesterday condemned the attack as charred bodies were strewn on the ground and then buried under the smouldering wreckage of burnt-down tents.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described it as ‘horrifying’, adding: ‘The Assad regime’s contempt for efforts to restore the cessation of hostilities in Syria is clear for all to see.’

The United Nations has demanded an immediate investigation.

Stephen O’Brien, the UN under-secretarygeneral for humanitarian affairs, said: ‘If this obscene attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of a civilian structure, it could amount to a war crime.’

Mamun al-Khatib, director of the Aleppo-based pro-rebel Shahba press agency, said ‘regime aircraft’ fired missiles on the camp in the village of Al-Kammouna.

He added: ‘Two missiles fell near the camp causing people to panic and two more fell inside where a dozen tents caught fire.’

Fifty refugees were injured in the same air strikes on Thursday near the Turkish border, destroying large parts of the Sarmada camp in the north-western Idlib province.

But Syria’s military yesterday denied any involvement in air strikes on state media.

The SANA news agency instead accused rebels of targeting civilians. It quoted the military as saying: ‘There’s no truth in information in some media that the Syrian air force targeted the displaced camp in Idlib province.’