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Russians say hospitals are legitimate targets
Running the old Soviet military playbook step by stepAMSTERDAM – The Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, confirmed that Syrian and Russian government airstrikes target hospitals. Activists reported on Wednesday that while Russia and Assad claim to target extremists, “airstrikes in Aleppo destroy homes, hospitals and schools.” However, the Russian ambassador said that the targeting is justified since Syrian rebels are using the hospitals and civilians as human shields. “Most hospitals are unmarked rebels’ field facilities. Keeping civilians as a human shield is a well-known terrorist tactic,” Ambassador Yakovenko said. Syrian and Russian jets resumed their bombing of rebel-held areas, backing Shia militias and the Syrian army to besiege eastern Aleppo. The intensification of violence in Aleppo followed the breakdown of a Russian-US ceasefire deal last month. “Children are being killed and maimed. Airstrikes are hitting the few remaining hospitals. The use of bunker-busting bombs means children cannot even safely attend schools that are underground,” Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) said in a press release. “We call on Syria and Russia, as well the international community, to show they abide by their human rights obligations set out in those treaties and find a way to end this raging conflict now,” Mezmur said. According to a Reuters report, France is launching a new initiative to resume the ceasefire to prevent the massacring of civilians, and to allow aid into Aleppo. Posted by: badanov 2016-10-06 |
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