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Russia rejects war crime claims over bombing of Syria health facilities Russia rejects war crime claims over bombing of Syria health facilities
(about 9 hours later)
Russia has strongly rejected accusations of war crimes after dozens of people were killed in strikes on medical facilities and schools in rebel-controlled areas of Syria on Monday. Russia has rejected accusations that it committed war crimes by targeting health facilities in Syria, even as the death toll from airstrikes on hospitals rose and growing condemnation over the Kremlin’s aerial campaign.
“We categorically do not accept such statements, the more so as every time those making these statements are unable to prove their unfounded accusations in any way,” a spokesman for Vladimir Putin said.“We categorically do not accept such statements, the more so as every time those making these statements are unable to prove their unfounded accusations in any way,” a spokesman for Vladimir Putin said.
France, Turkey and western diplomats have all said the strikes on two locations by forces supporting Bashar al-Assad amount to war crimes. Related: Kurds carve out new reality in northern Syria
France, Turkey and western diplomats have all said the strikes on two locations by forces supporting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad amount to war crimes.
Turkey’s foreign ministry accused Russia of carrying out an “obvious war crime” and warned that bigger and more serious consequences would be inevitable if Russia did not immediately end such attacks.Turkey’s foreign ministry accused Russia of carrying out an “obvious war crime” and warned that bigger and more serious consequences would be inevitable if Russia did not immediately end such attacks.
Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, said: “If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response.”Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, said: “If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response.”
France was less forthright in its language. The foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said the attacks “could constitute war crimes”, adding: “Attacks against health facilities in Syria by the regime or its supporters are unacceptable and must stop immediately.” The international charity Médecins Sans Frontières said 11 people died – five staff members, a caretaker and five patients including a child – after airstrikes on a facility it supports in the province of Idlib. It said the death toll was likely to still rise.
The violence risks drawing Turkey further into the conflict. Alarmed by Kurdish expansion near its border, Ankara on Tuesday called on its coalition partners, including the US, to take part in a joint ground operation in Syria to try to end the war. While MSF did not blame any side for the bombing of the hospital, the Russian and Syrian air forces have carried out almost all of the air raids in the province, which is entirely outside of government control.
“Turkey is not going to have a unilateral ground operation,” official said. “We are asking coalition partners that there should be a ground operation. We are discussing this with allies. The continued violence risks upending a truce deal agreed by major powers in Munich last week that calls for a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access to besieged areas in Syria.
“We want a ground operation. If there is a consensus, Turkey will take part. Without a ground operation, it is impossible to stop this war.” Turkey, which backs rebels fighting to overthrow the Assad regime, said on Tuesday that it was seeking support from its allies for a ground operation in Syria. It has watched with growing alarm as Russian airstrikes decimate the opposition, allowing Kurdish paramilitaries, with whom it is fighting a bitter insurgency, to gain ground in territory straddling its borders.
Monday’s strikes were the latest in a series of attacks on medical facilities and workers, totalling 14 so far this year. They have dashed hopes that an agreement in Munich about a “cessation of hostilities” could be implemented this week, and underlined Assad’s warning that implementing a truce would prove difficult. “We want a ground operation. If there is a consensus, Turkey will take part. Without a ground operation, it is impossible to stop this war,” a Turkish official told reporters at a briefing in Istanbul, according to Reuters. “Turkey is not going to have a unilateral ground operation ... We are discussing this with allies.”
Related: Kurds carve out new reality in northern Syria Growing speculation that opponents of Assad are mulling an intervention on the ground has drawn condemnation from Moscow, which says such a move risks broadening the five-year civil and proxy war.
Médecins Sans Frontières said seven people were killed when a facility it supports in Maaret al-Numan, Idlib province, was hit four times in two separate raids. Mego Terzian, MSF’s France president, said he thought that either Russia or Syrian government forces were responsible. In a glimmer of hope amid the worsening conflict that has displaced tens of thousands in the past few weeks, the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, hinted that he had been able to secure access for humanitarian convoys to besieged areas in the country.
The hospital, which has 54 staff and 30 beds, is financed by the medical charity, which also supplies medicine and equipment. In a statement issued after a meeting with Syrian foreign minister, Walid Mouallem, Mistura said they had discussed the issue of humanitarian access to areas besieged by all sides in the war. Humanitarian agencies estimate that more than a million people are living under siege, most of whom are hemmed in by the Assad regime.
The UK’s former development secretary Andrew Mitchell said there was no doubt Russia was to blame. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is certainly a war crime. The Russian air force have now hit 30 hospitals in Syria, of which only one is in an Isil [Islamic State] area. MSF is careful to make clear where their people are on the ground to all the combatants. Everyone knew this is an MSF hospital and undoubtedly this is a breach of international law and the Russians are guilty of that.” Mistura’s comments implied that he had won governmental approval for UN convoys to deliver supplies to some areas, although he gave no specific details. “The access to these areas is done by convoys, coordinated by the UN country team ... It is clear it is the duty of the government of Syria to want to reach every Syrian person wherever they are and allow the UN to bring humanitarian aid,” Mistura said. “Tomorrow, we test this.”
Mitchell acknowledged there was nothing the international community could do to stop Russia’s airstrikes, but he insisted there would be consequences.
“They can be held to account in the future. The United Nations was set up to combat this sort of international anarchy. Russia is a fundamental part as a member of the permanent five [of the security council]. There are many other countries in the UN who will be horrified by these Russian actions against innocent civilians. For Russia’s reputation in the future, for Russia’s role in the UN, this has a very significant effect.”
Chris Hill, a former US ambassador in the Middle East, said: “Russians have a history of not being very accurate. What is particularly worrisome here is that wasn’t just one hospital; it looks like it was a deliberate effort to deal with their perception of how to win the war, so I would like to see an ulterior explanation of this but I must say fingers are pointing pretty directly at the Russian air force right now.”
Asked whether it was a war crime, Hill said: “If there was a deliberate effort to target hospitals where wounded warriors are convalescing, where there were doctors and nurses, I think you could certainly make the case for it being a war crime.”
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said the raids violated international law and “cast a shadow” over efforts to end Syria’s five-year civil war.