Russia Airstrikes ‘May Amount To War Crimes’

A new investigation from Amnesty International charges that a series of Russian air strikes in Syria have killed more than 200 civilians and very few militants.

The report also included testimonies of eyewitnesses and survivors of attacks as well as examination of video evidence and images showing the aftermath of attacks, aided by analysis from weapons experts.

“After some attacks, they (Russian authorities) have responded to reports of civilian deaths by denying they killed civilians; after others, they have simply stayed silent”, Amnesty said adding, that in the case of one mosque attack, Russian authorities used deception to cover it up.

Russian Federation launched a major military air campaign over Syria in late September as part of an effort to support President Bashar al-Assad.

Some Russian strikes “seem to have attacked military objectives and civilian objects without distinction, or caused disproportionate harm to civilians when striking military targets”, Amnesty said in the report.

“The Secretary General notes with concern Amnesty International report on alleged violations of international humanitarian law resulting of the Russian airstrikes in Syria”.

Speaking to RIA Novosti, he suggested it was easy for other countries to monitor Russian bombing and that if civilians were targeted, they would have already complained through the United Nations not “in a report”.

Amnesty International says Russian Federation may have committed war crimes during its military campaign in Syria.

David Cenciotti, who runs The Aviationist website, said Russia’s Su-24 and 25 bombers have made “significant use of unguided fragmentation bombs…”

According to Amnesty, attacks researched for the report were carried out away from military targets, making the reported civilian casualties even more alarming.

The British rights group says in one of the deadliest incidents, 49 civilians were killed when three missiles were fired at a busy market in the Idlib locality of Ariha.

Amnesty’s report detailed strikes in residential areas, hitting mosques and hospitals, saying that the strikes have “killed hundreds of civilians”.

Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, told a news briefing in Moscow that the Amnesty report contained “fake information”.

Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons that must not be used in any circumstances.

The US has rarely acknowledged civilian deaths in its air bombardment of the so-called Islamic State (IS), which began in September 2014, although some monitoring groups say the toll could run into hundreds. The group also proposed sitting down with Russian officials to discuss its findings.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday Russia was “conducting its operation in strict conformity with principles and norms of the global law”.