Senior officials in the US have said they have evidence that the attack on an aid convoy near Aleppo that killed around 21 people and destroyed aid for thousands was carried out by Russian jets.
Two senior US officials spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity on Tuesday to say that two Russian Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes were seen above the convoy within one minute of when it was struck.
The White House said it couldn’t confirm the information, as both the Syrian and Russian air forces use the plane, but intelligence reports suggested it was indeed Russian planes that carried out the strike.
A spokesperson from the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the claims. “We are considering, with resentment and indignation, attempts by some foreign curators of rebel units and terrorists in Syria to put the blame for the incident on the Russian and Syrian air forces who allegedly bombarded a relief convoy,” a statement given to Russian news agencies said.
The Russian Defence Ministry added it believed the attack did not involve the sort of damage consistent with an air strike, and instead was a fire, adding the US government had “no facts” to support the allegations and Russia has “nothing to do with this situation.”
While both the Russian and Syrian governments have denied carrying out the attacks or deliberately targeting humanitarian workers, Washington has insisted it ultimately holds Moscow responsible, since under the recent ceasefire agreement Russia was supposed to coordinate with and prevent the Syrian government from carrying out air strikes.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon used his last UN General Assembly address to condemn the attack as “sickening, savage and apparently deliberate.”
Despite inflamed relations with Russia, US Secretary of State John Kerry emerged from international talks on the Syrian conflict in New York on Tuesday to say that the recent ceasefire brokered by the two superpowers “isn’t dead”.
The UN has said the incident is potentially a war crime. The international body's humanitarian wing suspended all aid operations in the country after the attack, jeopardising the health and safety of millions of Syrian civilians.
