Monday, October 23rd., 2017
''...There’s only one explanation – the desire to cover up evidence of the barbaric bombardments by the US air force and the coalition as fast as possible and to bury the thousands of civilians ‘liberated’ from Daesh in the ruins....''
via
Russia accuses US-led coalition of ‘barbaric’ bombing of Syria’s Raqqa
![Smoke rises after an attack on Raqqa [file photo]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/no-role-for-turkey-in-the-battle.jpg?resize=1200%2C720&quality=75&strip=all&ssl=1)
Smoke rises after an attack on Raqqa [file photo]
October 22, 2017 at 2:08 pm
Russia accused the US-led coalition
in Syria on Sunday of wiping the city of Raqqa “off the face of the
earth” with carpet bombing in the same way the United States and Britain
had bombed Germany’s Dresden in 1945.
The Russian Defence Ministry, which has
itself repeatedly been forced to deny accusations from activists and
Western politicians of bombing Syrian civilians, said it looked like the
West was now rushing to provide financial aid to Raqqa to cover up
evidence of its own crimes.
Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a
spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said in a statement that around
200,000 people had lived in Raqqa before the conflict in Syria, but that
not more than 45,000 people remained.
US-backed militias in Syria declared victory over Daesh in Raqqa, the group’s capital, last week, raising flags over the last militant footholds after a four-month battle.
“Raqqa has inherited the fate of Dresden
in 1945, wiped off the face of the earth by Anglo-American
bombardments,” said Konashenkov.
Most of the German city was destroyed in Allied bombing raids just before the end of World War Two.
Though he said Russia welcomed Western
promises of financial aid to rebuild Raqqa, Konashenkov complained that
numerous Russian requests for the West to give humanitarian aid to
Syrian civilians in other parts of the country had been rejected in
previous years.
“What is behind the rush by Western capitals to provide targeted financial help only to Raqqa?,” said Konashenkov.
There’s only one explanation – the desire to cover up evidence of the barbaric bombardments by the US air force and the coalition as fast as possible and to bury the thousands of civilians ‘liberated’ from Daesh in the ruins.
The US-led coalition says it is careful to
avoid civilian casualties in its bombing runs against Daesh in both
Syria and Iraq, and investigates any allegations. It has previously
denied killing civilians in air strikes on Raqqa, saying its goal is
“zero civilian casualties.”