U.S. accuses Russia of “war crimes, barbarism” in Aleppo

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. accused Moscow of "barbarism" over the worsening carnage in Aleppo, as Syrian and Russian warplanes pounded the city in one of the heaviest bombing raids of the five-year war, AFP reports.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to demand Russia rein in its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and halt intense air strikes, Moscow and Damascus were repeatedly accused of war crimes.

"What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counter-terrorism. It is barbarism," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said at the Sunday, September 25 session.

Some 124 people, mostly civilians, have died since bunker-busting bombs and sophisticated weaponry were unleashed on residential areas in rebel-held eastern Aleppo after the army Thursday launched an operation to take it.

"It is difficult to deny that Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes," said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, adding that the high-tech weaponry had inflicted "a new hell" on war-weary Syrians.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also warned the use of advanced weaponry against civilians could amount to war crimes, and French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the atrocities must not go unpunished.

Britain, France and the United States had called for the urgent talks after days of intense diplomatic efforts to salvage a U.S.-Russian ceasefire deal ended in failure at the weekend.

Ban called on world powers to "work harder for an end to the nightmare" in Syria that has left more than 300,000 people dead and driven millions from their homes.

To protest the attacks in Aleppo, the U.S., French and British ambassadors walked out of the Security Council chamber as the Syrian ambassador delivered his remarks.