UN: Aleppo bombardment most likely a war crime

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA

Syrian regime and its allies have most likely committed war crimes by the recent bombardment of civilians fleeing from eastern Aleppo, the U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday.

"While the reasons for the breakdown in the cease-fire are disputed, the resumption of extremely heavy bombardment by the Syrian Government forces and their allies on an area packed with civilians is almost certainly a violation of international law and most likely constitutes war crimes," the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein said in a statement.

“Any evacuation of the civilians in eastern Aleppo must be carried out in compliance with international law. The Syrian Government has a clear responsibility to ensure its people are safe, and is palpably failing to take this opportunity to do so," Hussein said.

“The Government of Syria is also obliged under international law to provide medical assistance to all sick and wounded people – civilians and fighters alike. The agreement was there, the buses were in place, the first convoy had set off and was then reportedly blocked by pro-Government militia. This is inexcusable,” he added.

According to a Wednesday report by the Russian center for the reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria, over the past 24 hours nearly 6,000 civilians, including 2,200 children, have been evacuated from Aleppo’s districts held by militants.

In the past two days, numerous civilians in eastern Aleppo have been killed by regime forces -- a situation the UN has described as alarming.

As a result of a Turkish mediation, a cease-fire took into effect as of 7.00 p.m. local time (1700GMT) on Tuesday.

Under the deal, civilians trapped in the conflict-hit zone will be moved via buses to the western part of Aleppo. Opposition fighters would be evacuated after the civilians.

Lavrov also said cooperation with Turkey on Syria would be more "fruitful" than with the U.S.

"We are in dialogue with the countries of the region, particularly with Turkey. Dialogue with Ankara would be more successful than the inconclusive sessions [that we had] with the U.S.," Lavrov said.