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| Russia rejects Syria war crimes claim over hospital attacks | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Russia says it "categorically rejects" accusations of war crimes over the bombing of hospitals in Syria. | |
| Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "those who make such statements are not capable of backing them up with proof". | |
| Up to 50 people were killed in missile attacks on schools and at least four hospitals in the region on Monday. | |
| The UN said the "deliberate" targeting of such facilities "could amount to war crimes", the Reuters news agency reported. | |
| Turkey's foreign ministry has blamed Russia for the attacks. | |
| A Turkish official on Tuesday said it would back a ground operation in Syria but only "with our international allies. | |
| "There is not going to be a unilateral military operation from Turkey to Syria," the unnamed official told reporters in Istanbul. | |
| Ceasefire doubts | |
| Monday's strikes struck two hospitals and two schools in Azaz, near the border with Turkey, and at least two hospitals in Maarat al-Numan, further south. | |
| One of the hospitals in Maarat al-Numan was run by Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which called the attack a "deliberate" strike. | |
| The strikes came days after world powers - including Russia - agreed to work towards a selective truce in Syria, due to begin later this week. | |
| The UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is in the capital, Damascus, to discuss the implementation of the "cessation of hostilities" - which could include the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas. | |
| But Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has cast doubt over the plan, saying it did not mean all the parties would put down their weapons. | |
| "So far they say they want a ceasefire within a week," he said in his first comments of Friday's agreement. "Who is capable of gathering all these conditions and requirements within a week?" | |
| What does the law say about bombing hospitals? |