ARA News
ALEPPO – Russia vetoed on Saturday a resolution by the United Nations Security Council that demanded an end to air raids over Syria’s Aleppo city.
The French-drafted UN resolution had also called for a truce and humanitarian aid access throughout Syria.
Russia, which has backed the Assad regime with a year-long air campaign against Syrian rebels and Islamist groups, vetoed the resolution, stressing the campaign was crucial to eliminate “terrorists”.
This comes amid intensifying Russian and Syrian airstrikes on Aleppo city, where hundreds of civilians have been killed over the past few weeks.
Also, Russian war planes bombed a major pharmaceutical company in Aleppo. According to local sources, a building belonging to the ElSaad Pharmaceutical Company was hit with six rockets on Wednesday. “The building was destroyed completely, leaving the city with an acute shortage of medicine,” human rights activist Zakariya Hamdo told ARA News.
Activists reported that while the Russian and Syrian governments claim to target extremists, “airstrikes in Aleppo destroy homes, hospitals and schools.”
The Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, confirmed that Syrian and Russian governments intentionally bomb hospitals. “Most hospitals are unmarked rebel field facilities. Keeping civilians as a human shield is a well-known terrorist tactic,” Ambassador Yakovenko said.
Syrian and Russian jets have resumed their bombing of rebel-held districts, reinforcing Shia militias and the Syrian Army as they lay siege to eastern Aleppo. Violence has intensified in Aleppo since a Russian-American ceasefire deal broke down last month.
Reporting by: Helin Saeed | Source: ARA News
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