PHOTO: US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov


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  • Pictures: Protest in Southern Syria on Anniversary of Russia’s Intervention


US Secretary of State John Kerry has repeated his threat to cut off talks with Russia over Syria’s conflict, protesting the ongoing Russian-regime bombing of opposition areas of Aleppo city.

Kerry told a conference in Washington on Thursday:

We are on the verge of suspending the discussion because it is irrational in the context of the kind of bombing taking place to be sitting there trying to take things seriously.

It is one of those moments where we are going to have to pursue other alternatives.

The Secretary of State made his initial statement in a phone call to Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday. He expressed “grave concern” over attacks on hospitals, water supplies, and other civilian infrastructure, and said that the US holds Russia responsible for the use of incendiary and bunker-buster bombs in an urban area.

See Syria Daily, Sept 29: Kerry Warns Russia, But Moscow Keeps Bombing Aleppo

Kerry again spoke with Lavrov on Thursday.

Between 400 and 500 people in opposition areas of Aleppo — all but a few civilians — have been killed in the past eight days by the Russian-regime attacks.

The toll fell yesterday, with only nine deaths confirmed by the Local Coordination Committees. However, the LCC reported 21 people killed in neighboring Idlib Province, most of them in pro-Assad airstrikes on the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Rescue efforts in Khan Sheikhoun, including the saving of a baby girl from the rubble (Warning — Graphic Images):

Aftermath of attacks on Idlib city, where scores of people were reportedly wounded:

A report by pro-opposition Orient News on Russia’s use of bunker-buster bombs:

Russia: We Will Continue Bombing

The Kremlin remained defiant. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said Russia would “continue the operation of its air force in support of the anti-terrorist activity of Syria’s armed forces”.

Peskov repeated the Russia line that the US is to blame for the situation in Aleppo because it did not “separate” rebels from the jihadists of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly Jabhat al-Nusra: “In general, we express regret at the rather non-constructive nature of the rhetoric voiced by Washington in the past days.”

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova tried to turn Kerry’s message into further evidence of US collusion with terrorism:

The best gift [to jihadists] would be Washington’s refusal to cooperate with Russia on Syria’s settlement….If Washington’s threat to terminate interaction is formalized, then there will be no doubt left that White House has taken militants under its wing, and the sun shines down the terrorist street.

White House: Options Being Considered

US officials have said this week that they are considering “tougher options”, given the killing of hundreds of civilians by Moscow and the Assad regime.

Following US Ambassador Samantha Power’s denunciation in the UN Security Council of Russian “barbarism”, the officials have told American media of general discussion of steps ranging from arms supplies to rebels to limited American airstrikes.

However, no plan has been presented to President Obama, and sceptics — pointing to repeated American steps back from confrontation and its three-year co-operation with Russia — assert that the leaked information is more a public-relations message than an indication of intent.

France is preparing a resolution for the UN Security Council, warning that those who do not support the recommendations will stand complicit in war crimes. The European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, said on Thursday that European governments are considering their response to the Russian-regime “massacre” in Aleppo.

Red Cross: 14 Doctors Left in Opposition Areas of Aleppo

In a series of tweets on Thursday, the Red Cross depicted the critical state of health care in Aleppo, following the loss of more hospitals and medical staff because of the Russian-regime bombing.

The Red Cross said that there are now as few as 14 doctors left. Only six of east Aleppo’s 21 hospitals now function at any level, and only two can carry out major surgeries.

The organization said doctors from regime-held Aleppo have offered to assist, but that this is not possible while the east Aleppo medical facilities are still under attack.

Fuel and water are “in increasingly short supply”. Neonatal care is non-existent, with no electricity for incubators.


Pictures: Protest in Southern Syria on Anniversary of Russia’s Intervention

Photos from Busra al-Sham, in southern Syria on the Jordanian border, on the first anniversary of Russia’s aerial intervention:

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