Two Russian Sukhoi Su-24 warplanes were in the skies at the precise time that a humanitarian aid convoy in Syria was struck, leading U.S. intelligence to believe Russia was behind the attack, two U.S. officials told Reuters.
“All of the information we have is consistent with this being a Russian airstrike,” a U.S. defense official told The Hill late Tuesday.
Russia has denied responsibility for the airstrike, which reportedly killed 20 civilians and destroyed 18 trucks in a 31-vehicle convoy delivering aid to Syrian civilians in western Aleppo. It took place during a temporary ceasefire in Syria brokered by the U.S. and Russia.
{mosads}On Tuesday, U.S. officials all but pointed the finger at Russian or Syrian forces for the attack, which they said looked like an airstrike — not an attack from rebel ground forces, as the Russians have suggested.
The U.S. has also said neither its own forces nor partners in the coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria were flying at the time.
“It does look like an airstrike. The only entities that fly in Syria right now are Russia and Syria. So this is, has been in the past, a strategic area for the Russians. They can speak for themselves on this, and we are interested to follow this just as you are,” Air Force Col. J.T. Thomas, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria, said at a briefing Tuesday.
“Whether this was the Russians or the regime, the Russians bear responsibility here. They are in Syria, they are backing the Assad regime, they are participating in his military campaign. They have aided and abetted the regime’s refusal or inability to honor the [ceasefire],” the defense official added.
If Russians are found to be responsible, that could mean the end of the cessation of hostilities that entered into force last week. The arrangement called for a reduction in violence and the flow of aid for seven continuous days, and it set the stage for potential U.S.-Russian military cooperation.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said if the attack was found to be deliberate, “it would amount to a war crime.”
“I call on the Russian Federation to fulfill the commitments it made in Geneva to ensure immediate, unfettered delivery of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people and compel the regime of Bashar al-Assad to refrain from violence and recommit to the ceasefire,” he said in a statement.
“Additionally, all parties to the conflict must adhere to international humanitarian law, which includes the protection of aid workers,” he added.
The attack took place Monday just as world leaders gathered to meet in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and sparked calls for an investigation into the strike.
On Tuesday morning, world leaders blasted the attack.
Outgoing United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the attack “sickening, savage and apparently deliberate.”
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, after a meeting of the International Syria Support Group on Tuesday morning, said, “The attack on the aid convoy in Aleppo was appalling and a clear violation of the most basic of humanitarian principles. It is important there is a proper investigation to determine who was responsible.”
But he also said members backed “continued efforts by the U.S. and Russia to conclude and implement their agreement in ways that see a proper ceasefire, improved humanitarian access to the long suffering people of Syria, and create space for diplomacy and political talks to resume.”
Secretary of State John Kerry said after that meeting, “The ceasefire is not dead.”
But later in the day, he tweeted, “Yesterday’s attack on a humanitarian convoy in #Syria was an unconscionable act to prevent aid from reaching innocent Syrians.”
Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition spokesman said the ceasefire “is certainly in jeopardy.”
“It’s a diplomatic call whether or not there’s been compliance with that effort, but we have seen an uptick in violence just as you have,” Thomas said.
The Pentagon has been strongly opposed to military cooperation with Russia in Syria, which would occur only after seven continuous days of reduced violence and the flow of humanitarian aid to besieged Syrian residents.
Thomas said discussions on that military cooperation have now stalled. Talks had gotten as far as deciding on a location where U.S. and Russian military officials would work together face-to-face, he said.
“You might say that there is no progress, that it’s stalled, so we’ve got it held where we were,” he said.
The U.S. and Russia suspended their military relationship after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, but after the U.S. began its air war against ISIS in Syria in 2014 and the Russians started their own to shore up the Assad regime, the two militaries opened a channel to avoid mid-air collisions over Syria.
Although Russia has said it has been hitting ISIS in Syria, U.S. officials say it has mostly been targeting anti-regime rebels. Russia says it will help target ISIS and al Qaeda terrorists in Syria if the U.S. agrees to military cooperation.
Experts say Russia is seeking U.S. military cooperation in Syria to end its international isolation over Ukraine, as well as to increase its stature on the world stage as an international player in the Middle East vis-a-vis the U.S.
The U.S. military expressed skepticism over whether that cooperation would ever occur.
“It’s unfortunate what we see and have cause for concern about what we’re seeing around Aleppo, this is not the vision that was put in place more than seven days ago to try to get human assistance flowing into the area and to try to decrease the level of violence,” Thomas said.
“I don’t think we would call it a situation where we are anticipating any great progress anytime soon.”
Updated 8:20 p.m.
