Syria Aid Convoy 'Bombarded' in Airstrike, 12 Dead

The attack sent a red fireball into the sky
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 20, 2016 1:16 AM CDT
12 Killed in Airstrike on Syria Aid Convoy
Damaged buildings and rubble line a street in Homs, Syria, on Monday.   (STR)

Syria's ceasefire has faltered further after an aid convoy was hit by airstrikes, with activists saying at least 12 people were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The strikes late Monday came just hours after the Syrian military declared the weeklong US-Russian brokered ceasefire had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal, and Russia—blaming rebels for the violations—suggested it could still be salvaged, the AP reports. It isn't clear who was behind the attack, which sent a red fireball into the sky in the dead of night over a rural area in Aleppo province.

Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over Syria, as well as the US-led coalition thats targeting ISIS. United Nations officials said the UN and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of the northern city of Aleppo. Initial estimates indicate that about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area. Jan Egeland, humanitarian aid coordinator in the office of the UN envoy for Syria, tells the AP that the convoy was "bombarded." Egeland adds, "It is outrageous that it was hit while offloading at warehouses." (More Syria stories.)

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