U.N. Suspends Syria Aid after Convoy Bombed

United Nations, 19 Dzulhijjah 1437/21 September 2016 (MINA) – The United Nations on Tuesday suspended all aid convoys across Syria a day after an airstrike hit relief trucks near the city of Halab (Aleppo), killing at least one aid worker and around 20 civilians and destroying a warehouse and hospital.

Syrian or Russian aircraft hit the aid convoy on Monday, a war monitor reported, as the Syrian military declared a one-week truce over.

The United Nations had just received permission from the Syrian government to deliver aid to all besieged areas in the country, SPA quoted Jens Laerke, a U.N. humanitarian aid spokesman, as saying.

All parties, including Russia and the United States, had been notified about the cleared convoy heading to rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

“As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being pending further assessment of the security situation,” Laerke told reporters in Geneva.

“However, we remain committed to stay and deliver to everybody in need in Syria.”

A top U.N. official called for accountability. “If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime,” U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien said in a statement, urging an immediate and independent investigation.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which said it was postponing an aid convoy that had been scheduled to deliver supplies to four besieged Syrian towns, warned of the consequences for millions of civilians in need. (T/R07/R01)

Miraj Islamic News Agency (MINA)