Hopes for a ceasefire in Syria were fading yesterday, after dozens were killed in airstrikes on hospitals that France branded war crimes and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said implementing a truce would prove “difficult.”
The UN said nearly 50 civilians, including children, died in bombings of at least five medical facilities and two schools in northern Syria’s Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
The US, which like the UN did not identify who carried out the airstrikes, said two civilian hospitals were hit in northern Syria: One run run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and another in rebel-held Azaz city.
Photo: EPA
The region around Syria’s second city of Aleppo has been the target of a major offensive by Syrian government troops, backed by Russian warplanes, which has sent tens of thousands fleeing to the Turkish border.
“That the [al-]Assad regime and its supporters would continue these attacks... casts doubt on Russia’s willingness and/or ability to help bring to a stop the continued brutality of the [al-]Assad regime against its own people,” the US Department of State said.
MSF confirmed a hospital supported by the charity was hit in Idlib, northwest Syria, and said seven people were killed and at least eight were missing, presumed dead.
However Syrian Ambassador to Moscow Riad Haddad said the hospital had been targeted by a US raid.
Russia has been accused of hitting several health facilities since its Syrian aerial campaign began on Sept. 30 last year.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini branded the Idlib attack “unacceptable” and urged “all parties [to respect] basic principles of humanitarian law.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday said Russia was not behind the airstrikes on hospitals in northern Syria, calling such reports “unsubstantiated accusations.”
“Once again, we categorically reject and do not accept such statements,” he said when asked whether Russian planes bombed hospitals in Syria. “Especially since every time, those who make such statements are unable to prove in any way their unsubstantiated accusations.”
The Kremlin spokesman added that Moscow prefers to rely on “first-hand sources” of information, which he said in this case would be the Syrian government.
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