Airstrike Near Aleppo Hits Aid Convoy
An airstrike hit an aid convoy near Aleppo and killed at least 12 people on Monday, just hours after the Syrian military announced that the one-week cease-fire brokered by the United States and Russia was over, Reuters reported.
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, along with a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) warehouse. The United Nations and SARC convoy was en route to deliver assistance to 78,000 people in rural areas outside Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, he added.
The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said either the Syrian government or Russia were behind the attack. At least 35 strikes took place in and around Aleppo on Monday, killing around 40 people, SOHR added.
U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien said if the “callous attack” on aid workers was deliberate, it would constitute a war crime. “Notification of the convoy … had been provided to all parties to the conflict and the convoy was clearly marked as humanitarian,” he said in a statement, asking for an independent investigation immediately.
The attack marked the collapse of the cease-fire. A senior U.S. official expressed doubt that the deal could be salvaged, the BBC reported, adding that “at this point the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage.”
Turkey Plans to Expand ‘Safe Zone’ in Northern Syria, Erdogan Says
Turkish-backed forces may push further south in northern Syria to expand its “safe zone,” Turkish president Tayyip Recep Erdogan said on Monday, according to Reuters.
The forces will now focus their efforts on the ground to capture the town of al-Bab, controlled by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), in Aleppo province.
“As part of the Euphrates Shield operation, an area of 900 square kilometers [350 square miles] has been cleared of terror so far. This area is pushing south,” Erdogan said. “We may extend this area to 5,000 square kilometers [1,930 square miles] as part of a safe zone.”
The proposed “safe zone” would be “the biggest military intervention in Turkey’s recent history,” Bloomberg reported.
Erdogan’s plans would “require deployment of thousands of Turkish soldiers in Syria for several years,” Nihat Ali Ozcan, an analyst at the Economic Policy Research Foundation in Ankara, told Bloomberg.
The move is an attempt to stop ISIS “being a threat to us,” Erdogan said.
Britain Participated in U.S.-Led Airstrike That Killed Syrian Troops
Britain admitted participating in recent U.S.-led airstrikes in Deir Ezzor that killed and injured Syrian troops, according to the BBC.
“We can confirm that the U.K. participated in the coalition airstrike south of Deir Ezzor on Saturday, and we are fully cooperating with the coalition investigation,” a spokesman for the British Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Monday.
“The U.K. would not intentionally target Syrian military units,” the spokesman added.
Britain fired “an unspecified number of weapons” from unmanned RAF Reaper drones in the strikes, “capable of firing 500lb [225kg] laser-guided bombs and Hellfire missiles,” the Guardian reported.
Russia said the airstrikes killed 62 government troops, while SOHR put the death toll at 90.
Australian, Danish and U.S. air forces also took part in the airstrikes, which threatened the nationwide cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Russia.
Recommended Reads
- The Independent: The U.S. and Russia Have Less Influence in Syria Than They Think
- Foreign Policy: Syria Is Now Everyone’s War
- The Guardian: Week-Old Syrian Cease-Fire Hangs in Balance
- CNN: Syrian Cease-Fire: Is it All Over?
- Reuters: Syrian Rebel Evacuation From Homs Postponed for 2–3 Days: Governor