WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday demanded a war crimes investigation into the ferocious bombing campaign of Aleppo, accusing Syria and its Russian ally of “terrorizing” civilians in the devastated city.
US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke ahead of discussions on a draft UN Security Council resolution that would call for an end to the Russian-backed onslaught on Aleppo.
The two-week assault by President Bashar Assad’s forces has sparked a global outcry after airstrikes on hospitals and other civilian infrastructure.
“These are acts that beg for an appropriate investigation — war crimes. And those that commit these will be and should be held accountable for their actions,” Kerry told reporters in Washington.
He said Moscow and Damascus “owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals and medical facilities, children and women.
“This is a targeted strategy to terrorize civilians and to kill anybody and everybody who is in the way of their military objectives.”
Raids earlier this week destroyed the largest hospital in the rebel-controlled east, and Kerry said on Friday another strike on a medical facility overnight killed 20 people.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Russia to use its influence with the Syrian government to end the bombardment of Aleppo, as her government opened the door to possible sanctions against Russia for its role in the conflict.
Merkel said there was no basis in international law for bombing hospitals and Moscow should use its influence with Assad to end the bombing of civilians. "Russia has a lot of influence on Assad. We must end these atrocious crimes," Merkel told an audience of party members in Germany.
In New York, the UN Security Council began an emergency meeting on the war at Russia’s request.
“The top priority is to stop the bloodbath in Aleppo,” French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters as he headed into closed-door talks.
Security Council members have discussed for a week a French-drafted UN resolution calling for a cease-fire.
Russia threatened to use its veto to block the French-drafted UN resolution.
“I cannot possibly see how we can let this resolution pass,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters when asked whether he would resort to the veto.
Following a closed-door Security Council meeting on Syria, Churkin said the French measure was “hastily put together,” adding, “I believe this is not designed to make progress, but to cause a Russian veto.”
French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the resolution has “very strong support” within the 15-member council and that “there was no time to waste” for addressing the unfolding disaster in Aleppo.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Washington warned that an expected Saturday vote on the proposed Aleppo truce was “a moment of truth for all members of the Security Council.”
Friday’s talks come after UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura warned Aleppo could be totally destroyed before the end of the year.
De Mistura also called on the regime and Russia to halt strikes if fighters from the former Al-Nusra Front, now known as Fateh Al-Sham Front, left the city, even offering to escort them out himself.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday he could support a UN plan for the faction to leave Aleppo if other rebel groups renounced their ties to the group.
“If Nusra leaves with its arms in the direction of Idlib... then for the sake of saving Aleppo we are ready to support such an approach and would be ready to call on the Syrian government to agree to this,” Lavrov told Russian television.
Russia’s parliament on Friday ratified a deal with Syria on the “indefinite” deployment of its forces in the country.
Once Syria’s economic powerhouse, Aleppo has been ravaged by the war that has killed more than 300,000 since it began in March 2011.
At least 250,000 people remain in east Aleppo, under near-continuous siege for months and now facing some of the most intense bombardment yet.
US seeks war crimes probe into Russia-Syria killing spree
US seeks war crimes probe into Russia-Syria killing spree
US military launches strikes in Syria against Daesh fighters after American deaths
- “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says
- President Trump earlier pledged “very serious retaliation” but stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration launched military strikes Friday in Syria to “eliminate” Daesh group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two US troops and an American interpreter almost a week ago.
A US official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had Daesh (also known as Islamic State or IS) infrastructure and weapons. Another US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.
The attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, the officials said. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and HIMARS rocket artillery also were used, one official said.
“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.
President Donald Trump had pledged “very serious retaliation” after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed Daesh. The troops were among hundreds of US troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the terrorist group.
Trump in a social media post said the strikes were targeting Daesh “strongholds.” He reiterated his support for Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who he said was “fully in support” of the US effort to target the militant group.
Trump also offered an all-caps threat, warning the group against attacking US personnel again.
“All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned — YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE USA.,” the president added.
The attack was a major test for the warming ties between the United States and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar Assad a year ago. Trump has stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops and said Al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack,” which came as the US military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.
Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement on X following the launch of US strikes said that last week’s attack “underscores the urgent necessity of strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms” and that Syria is committed “to fighting Daesh and ensuring that it has no safe havens on Syrian territory and will continue to intensify military operations against it wherever it poses a threat.”
Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the US service members, but the group has claimed responsibility for two attacks on Syrian security forces since, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group in its statements described Al-Sharaa’s government and army as “apostates.” While Al-Sharaa once led a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, he has had a long-running enmity with Daesh.
Syrian state television reported that the US strikes hit targets in rural areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces and in the Jabal Al-Amour area near Palmyra. It said they targeted “weapons storage sites and headquarters used by Daesh as launching points for its operations in the region.”
Trump this week met privately with the families of the slain Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before he joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for the dignified transfer, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring US service members killed in action.
The guardsmen killed in Syria last Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the US Army. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a US civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed.
The shooting nearly a week ago near the historic city of Palmyra also wounded three other US troops as well as members of Syria’s security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned because of suspicions that he might be affiliated with Daesh, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour Al-Din Al-Baba has said.
The man stormed a meeting between US and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.
When asked for further information, the Pentagon referred AP to Hegseth’s social media post.
