(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 28 people have killed and dozens wounded in Russian airstrikes on an ISIS-held town in the northeastern province of Hasakah as regime army and Kurdish militants launch joint attack on the strategic town.
The deadly Russian air strikes have targeted the main bakery of al-Shaddadi town, leaving 28 dead, journalist Mudhar al-Asaad told Zaman al-Wasl.
The death toll is expected to rise, he added.
The strieks have also targeted the town's hospital, turning large parts of it to rubble.
Local activsts said the U.S. and Russian backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters led by YPG, are pressing to capture the town in coocrdination with regime army.
On Monday, almost 50 civilians were killed when Russian missiles hit at least five medical facilities and two schools in rebel-held areas in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, according to the United Nations, which called the attacks a blatant violation of international law.
At least 14 were killed in the northern town of Azaz, the last rebel stronghold before the border with Turkey, when missiles hit a children's hospital and a school sheltering refugees, a medic and two residents said. Missiles also hit a hospital in the town of Marat Numan in the province of Idlib, south of Aleppo.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a Russian missile had hit the buildings and that many civilians including children had been killed. Turkey's foreign ministry accused Russia of carrying out an "obvious war crime."
But Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Russian air strikes were targeting Islamic State infrastructure and she had no reason to believe that Russian planes had bombed civilian sites in Idlib.
"We are confident that (there is) no way could it be done by our defense forces. This contradicts our ideology," she said in Geneva. Syria's ambassador to Russia said U.S. war planes were responsible.
White House national security adviser Susan Rice on Monday condemned in the "strongest terms" the intensified bombing of northern Syria, adding that it ran counter to commitments to reduce hostilities made by major powers last week in Munich.
The Syrian civil war, reshaped by Russia's intervention last September, has gone into an even higher gear since the United Nations sought to revive peace talks. The talks in Geneva were suspended earlier this month before they got off the ground. (With agencies)
The deadly Russian air strikes have targeted the main bakery of al-Shaddadi town, leaving 28 dead, journalist Mudhar al-Asaad told Zaman al-Wasl.
The death toll is expected to rise, he added.
The strieks have also targeted the town's hospital, turning large parts of it to rubble.
Local activsts said the U.S. and Russian backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters led by YPG, are pressing to capture the town in coocrdination with regime army.
On Monday, almost 50 civilians were killed when Russian missiles hit at least five medical facilities and two schools in rebel-held areas in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, according to the United Nations, which called the attacks a blatant violation of international law.
At least 14 were killed in the northern town of Azaz, the last rebel stronghold before the border with Turkey, when missiles hit a children's hospital and a school sheltering refugees, a medic and two residents said. Missiles also hit a hospital in the town of Marat Numan in the province of Idlib, south of Aleppo.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a Russian missile had hit the buildings and that many civilians including children had been killed. Turkey's foreign ministry accused Russia of carrying out an "obvious war crime."
But Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Russian air strikes were targeting Islamic State infrastructure and she had no reason to believe that Russian planes had bombed civilian sites in Idlib.
"We are confident that (there is) no way could it be done by our defense forces. This contradicts our ideology," she said in Geneva. Syria's ambassador to Russia said U.S. war planes were responsible.
White House national security adviser Susan Rice on Monday condemned in the "strongest terms" the intensified bombing of northern Syria, adding that it ran counter to commitments to reduce hostilities made by major powers last week in Munich.
The Syrian civil war, reshaped by Russia's intervention last September, has gone into an even higher gear since the United Nations sought to revive peace talks. The talks in Geneva were suspended earlier this month before they got off the ground. (With agencies)
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