Syria fighting:
Deadly strike on aid convoy shatters truce.
BEIRUT — A U.N. humanitarian aid convoy in Syria was hit by air strikes Monday as the Syrian military declared that a U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire had failed. Activists said at least 12 people were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers.
The U.S. initially brushed off Damascus’ assertions and said it was prepared to extend the agreement, while Russia — after blaming rebels for the violations — suggested it could still be salvaged.
But late Monday, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby called the convoy attack an “egregious violation” of the weeklong cease-fire and said the U.S. “will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia.”
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the civil war, said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer first responder group also known as the White Helmets, confirmed that casualty figure.
U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said a Red Crescent warehouse was also hit and a Red Crescent health clinic was reported to be seriously damaged, he said.
O’Brien called the attacks “sickening” and said he was “disgusted and horrified.” He stressed that all parties received notification of the convoy, which was carrying aid for about 78,000 people.
U.N. officials said the U.N. and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance to the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of Aleppo city. Initial estimates indicated that at least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer first responder group also known as the White Helmets, confirmed that casualty figure.
They posted images of a number of vehicles on fire in the dead of the night. A video of the attack showed huge balls of fire in a pitchblack area, as ambulances arrived on the scene.
Jan Egeland, humanitarian aid coordinator in the office of the U.N. envoy for Syria, told the Associated Press in a text message that the convoy was “bombarded.”
Egeland added, “It is outrageous that it was hit while offloading at warehouses.”
O’Brien, the U.N. humanitarian chief, said there is no excuse “for waging war on brave and selfless humanitarian workers,” and warned that if they were deliberately targeted “it would amount to a war crime.”
Elsewhere at least 20 civilians, including a 1-yearold girl, were killed in fresh air strikes on rebel-held parts of Aleppo city and surrounding areas, according to the Observatory. And Russia said government positions in southwestern Aleppo came under attack from militant groups, including a massive barrage of rockets.
The week-old cease-fire had brought a brief respite to at least some parts the war-torn country.
Its future will be at the top of the agenda of a meeting Tuesday morning of about 20 countries supporting opposing sides in the Syria conflict, including the U.S. and Russia, that belong to the International Syria Support Group.
After the Syrian military declaration, Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged that the first stage of the truce, which called for a week of calm and the delivery of humanitarian aid to several besieged communities, had never really come to fruition.