Moscow Denies Russia, Syria Jets Hit Aid Convoy
Neither Russian nor Syrian planes bombed an aid convoy in Syria's Aleppo, Moscow said Tuesday, as outrage mounted over strikes which the Red Cross said killed around 20 people.
"The air forces of Russia and Syria did not conduct any strikes against the U.N. aid convoy in the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo," defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
The U.N. said at least 18 trucks in a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday as they delivered humanitarian assistance to Orum al-Kubra in the Aleppo region.
Russia is flying a bombing campaign in Syria in support of President Bashar Assad, and there are suspicions that either Moscow or the Syrian forces could be responsible.
The Russian military, which is investigating the incident, said that footage from activists at the scene showed damage to the vehicles that did not appear to come from an air strike or "any sort of munitions."
Instead, the fire that tore through the convoy happened "strangely at the same time insurgents were carrying out a large-scale attack on Aleppo," Konashenkov said.
Washington expressed outrage over the attack, stressing that the convoy's destination was known to both Damascus and Moscow.
Konashenkov said Russian drones had followed the convoy until it successfully delivered its load, but had stopped surveillance after that.
"All information on the convoy's location (after that) was known only to the rebels controlling this area," he said.
- U.N. aid convoys suspended -
The deadly incident occurred several hours after Syria's military declared an end to a week-long truce brokered by the Moscow and Washington earlier this month in an attempt to end the five-year war.
The United Nations has since suspended all humanitarian aid convoys.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said hope for a renewal of the ceasefire was "for now, very weak", stressing that a truce could only be resumed if "terrorists" halted their fire.
"The conditions are very simple. The shooting needs to stop and the terrorists need to stop attacking Syrian troops," he said.
"And, of course, it wouldn't hurt if our American colleagues didn't accidentally bomb the Syrians," he added, referring to a U.S.-led coalition strike last week that Moscow said killed at least 62 Syrian servicemen.
Russia and the United States have persistently blamed each other for not doing enough to bolster the truce.
Source: Agence France Presse
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