© Michael Fiala / Reuters
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the US-led coalition airstrike on Syrian government forces is illegitimate and violates the Syrian sovereignty.
“Whatever the reason for the decisions that the US command made to carry out that strike was, the strike is illegitimate, it is illegal and a regular gross violation of the Syrian Arab Republic’s sovereignty,” the minister told reporters, adding that Russia believes that this move shows the desire to prompt oppositionists and some extremists to fight the Syrian government.
“Again we see the desire of Jabhat al-Nusra [also known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] and those who cooperate with it, to leave [the terrorists’ activities] outside the coalition’s military activities. Again and again we see the desire and confirmation of this desire as for the deployment of oppositionists and some extremists, including from Jabhat al-Nusra, to fight against the legitimate government of Syria.“
Lavrov said that Moscow is inquiring about the details of the incident. He added that there were “some reports” that several dozen civilians died as a result of the strike. [SF: However, this seems to be hardly possible because the airstrike hit a government forces military column, according to local sources]
