Russian Bombings in Syria ‘May Amount To War Crime’ — Amnesty

It stated its report, which foccused on six assaults in Homs, Idlib and Aleppo, was based mostly on interviews with witnesses and survivors, in addition to on video proof and pictures displaying the aftermath of assaults.

The group had claimed that there had been a surge in reports of cluster munitions dropped in areas targeted by Russian forces since Moscow formally joined the conflict on September 30.

Russian Federation says its air strikes target the Islamic State (Isis) group and other terrorists. “Such attacks may amount to war crimes”, said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

“Such attacks may amount to war crimes”, Luther added.

A bomb is released from a Russian Su-34 strike fighter in Syria.

There were a further 710 civilians killed, of whom 161 were children and 104 women.

Although Russia and the United States are involved in separate air campaigns over Syria, both countries are part of the International Syria Support Group, which has been working to foster a political transition in Syria.

QuickTake Syria’s Civil War 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 stated within the report. Witnesses are quoted as describing how the market became a scene of carnage in seconds. Russia’s armed forces have also deployed long-range bombers from Russian Federation, sea-launched cruise missiles and, according to military analysts, combat helicopters, tanks, artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems.

Amnesty International has criticized Russian Federation for conducting airstrikes in Syria that allegedly killed at least 200 civilians within two months.

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

Syrian opposition groups, however, also blamed Russian Federation for the strikes in Idlib, which they said killed more than 40 people, many of them civilians.

The Russians say they haven’t received any reports of civilian casualties since the end of September – they are also contesting Amnesty sources on the ground. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the government hadn’t seen the report but would look into it.

Russia’s ministry of defence did not respond to an FT request for comment on Amnesty’s findings on Tuesday night.