KABUL: (MEP) Russia on Wednesday strongly condemned as “absurd” accusations by the United States that Moscow’s air strikes in Syria are killing hundreds of civilians.
The response came a day after the US Department of State claimed that the Russian campaign had caused “civilians” casualties as well as targeting “medical facilities, schools and markets.”
“All of these anonymous and unsubstantiated statements about the alleged use of Russian aircraft on civilian targets in Syria is increasingly reminiscent of hypnotists’ acts in travelling circuses,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement, calling the claims “absurd”.
Russia has come under growing criticism from the West as well as human rights groups and Syrian rebels for inflicting civilian casualties in its two-month bombing campaign in the war-torn country.
Russia launched the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorists group and other militant groups in Syria on September 30 upon a request from the Damascus government.
The so-called Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday that Moscow’s strikes had killed 2,371 people since September 30.
It said the toll includes 792 civilians, among them 180 children.
‘Absolute Silence’ On US Strikes
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, censured the “absolute silence” about the strikes by Washington, which itself is leading a coalition that has been targeting alleged ISIS positions in Syria since September 2014 without a permit from Damascus or a UN mandate. The effectiveness of those strikes have been questioned as infrastructure has been targeted in several cases.
The Russian statement also cast doubt on the outcome of the US-led coalition strikes, saying the airstrikes had caused “mass casualties.”
Earlier this month, Russia dismissed as full of “clichés and fakes” a report by Amnesty International over its airstrikes in Syria that alleged hundreds of civilians have fallen victim to Russia’s strikes in Syria.
Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since 2011, which has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people, and displaced millions.
