The United
Nations said at least 18 trucks in a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed
late Monday as they came under attack while en route to deliver
humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Urum al-Kubra.
The
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said
in a statement that the airstrike killed around 20 people including
one of its staff members.
On Tuesday,
Syria's army denied bombing the aid convoy, with the official news
agency SANA quoting an unidentified military source as dismissing the
Western media claims.
"There
is no truth to media reports that the Syrian army targeted a convoy
of humanitarian aid in Aleppo province," the source said.
Additionally,
Russia’s TASS news agency carried remarks by Russian Defense
Ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, as he rejected the allegations
against Moscow.
"The
air forces of Russia and Syria did not conduct any strikes against
the UN aid convoy in the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo," he
said.
Konashenkov
further noted that the fire that tore through the aid convoy came
"strangely” at the time that militants “were carrying out a
large-scale attack on Aleppo."
US State
Department spokesman, John Kirby, said in a statement that Washington
would raise the issue of the attack directly with Moscow, claiming
that the destination of the convoy was known to the Damascus
government and the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile,
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency
Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien said that if Monday’s incident
was found to be deliberate, "it would amount to a war crime".
Full
report:
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