Russia sending more warplanes to Syria as world anger grows over 'barbarous' strikes
World
Russia sending more warplanes to Syria as world anger grows over ‘barbarous’ strikes
Russia is sending more warplanes to Syria to ramp up its campaign of airstrikes, a Russian newspaper reported on Friday, as Moscow defied global censure over an escalation that Western countries say has torpedoed diplomacy. President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the Russian and Syrian bombing of the city of Aleppo as “barbarous,” the White House said after the two leaders spoke by telephone. Fighting intensified a week into a new Russian-backed government offensive to capture all of Syria’s largest city and crush the last remaining urban stronghold of the rebellion.
From Russia’s first airstrikes in Syria, it has hit civilian areas and increasingly used indiscriminate weapons, including cluster and incendiary munitions.
Britain’s Special Representative to Syria, Gareth Bayley
Residents say the air strikes are unprecedented in their ferocity, deploying heavier bombs that flatten buildings on top of the people huddled inside. Russia joined the war exactly a year ago, tipping the balance of power in favor of Assad, who is also supported by Iranian ground forces and Shi'ite militia from Lebanon and Iraq. The Kremlin said on Friday there was no time frame for Russia’s military operation in Syria. The main result of Russian air strikes over the past year is “neither Islamic State, nor al Qaeda nor the Nusra Front are now sitting in Damascus”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
