ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—A United Nations convoy bringing aid to Aleppo has come under attack, the UN has confirmed.
The UN’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, confirmed the convoy had been attacked and called it an “outrage,” in an email to Reuters. He could not confirm if it was an airstrike that hit the trucks of aid.
“The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians,” he said.
He did not confirm if there were casualties but Khaled Khatib, a member of the Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets, reported on Twitter that twelve aid workers were killed in the attack, including the director of the Syrian Red Crescent.
ABC news reported that an official, unidentified, confirmed that a UN convoy that was carrying aid for 78,000 people was attacked though it was not clear if it was an airstrike or an IED and who carried out the attack.
The attack came just hours after the Syrian army declared the ceasefire over.
Delivery of aid, which was a primary goal of the cessation of hostilities, was held up on the Turkey-Syria border for days, waiting for authorization from Damascus.
The UN’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, confirmed the convoy had been attacked and called it an “outrage,” in an email to Reuters. He could not confirm if it was an airstrike that hit the trucks of aid.
“The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians,” he said.
He did not confirm if there were casualties but Khaled Khatib, a member of the Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets, reported on Twitter that twelve aid workers were killed in the attack, including the director of the Syrian Red Crescent.
ABC news reported that an official, unidentified, confirmed that a UN convoy that was carrying aid for 78,000 people was attacked though it was not clear if it was an airstrike or an IED and who carried out the attack.
The attack came just hours after the Syrian army declared the ceasefire over.
Delivery of aid, which was a primary goal of the cessation of hostilities, was held up on the Turkey-Syria border for days, waiting for authorization from Damascus.
12 aid workers killed in airstrike on the UN convoy in western Aleppo, and 18 more injured in. Syrian Red Crescent director among the dead. pic.twitter.com/dAfqxh460c
— Khaled Khatib (@995Khaled) September 19, 2016
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