Russian Airstrikes in Syria May Amount to War Crimes: Amnesty

At least 200 civilians have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria, an Amnesty International report says, quoting witnesses and activists.

Amnesty’s 28-page report includes analyses of 25 suspected Russian air strikes in Syria since 30 September, and includes a range of interviews with people who witnessed the attacks.

The human rights watch organisation said that Russian Federation was targeted Syrian opposition groups instead of Islamic State (ISIS) or other militant groups.

The Britain-based Observatory uses a network of sources on the ground to monitor Syria s conflict and has accused Russian Federation of killing hundreds of civilians in air strikes.

He also denied the Russian military used cluster munitions in Syria.

“Once again, nothing concrete or new was published, only the same cliches and fakes that we have already debunked repeatedly”, Russian defense ministry spokesman, General-Major Igor Konashenkov, said after reviewing the report.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International released a statement, clainming that airstrikes carried out by the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria had allegedly caused casualties among civilians and destroyed or damaged several civilian facilities.

“Such attacks may amount to war crimes”, he claimed.

Russia’s bombing of Syria may quantity to a war crime as a result of of the quantity of civilians its strikes have killed, Amnesty International stated on Wednesday, presenting what it stated was proof that the air raids had violated humanitarian regulation.

“We see how effectively our pilots and intelligence officers work in Syria and how effectively they coordinate their efforts”, Putin said at a Kremlin event honoring security service employees, according to the Sputnik state-run news agency.

In another suspected Russian attack, at least 46 civilians, including 32 children and 11 women who were sheltering in the basement of a residential building, were killed on October 15 in al-Ghantu, Homs governorate.

Cluster munitions are indiscriminate and due to the high dud rate pose a long-term threat to civilian populations. “They must halt all use of cluster munitions and stop dropping unguided bombs on civilian areas”, said Philip Luther. While Russia has predominately used aircraft to strike targets throughout the war-torn country, some rocket artillery and howitzers are also on the front lines, along with Russian advisers.

“We have documented, in detail, six attacks”, Anna Neistat, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research told RFI.

‘Russia is conducting its operation in strict conformity with principles and norms of the worldwide law, including those sections of the global law that regulate using and bans on using one or another type of weapons, ‘ Peskov told reporters.