Moscow has intensified its rhetoric against American military movements in Syria, accusing the US of using internationally banned weapons in air strikes on Deir Ezzor.
The Americans have resumed intense air attacks on Deir Ezzor villages on the eastern bank of the Euphrates “with the use of white phosphorous munitions,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated Friday.
She said in her weekly briefing that this was not the first time that the US-led Coalition has used banned weapons.
The Syrian foreign ministry sent two letters to the UN Secretary-General and to President of the UN Security Council, which urged “ending such attacks, investigating these crimes, and punishing the culprits,” Zakharova told reporters in Moscow.
The Russian defense ministry also issued accusations against Washington, saying a US-backed armed group has terrorized civilians and looted humanitarian aid in al-Rukban, a remote desert camp for displaced Syrians near the border with Jordan.
It said that around 6,000 Mahavir as-Saura (Partisans of the Revolution) gunmen present at the camp have looted humanitarian assistance and forced refugees to pay huge sums of money in order to have access to medical clinics.
The ministry held Washington responsible for the deteriorating situation at the camp and urged the US and other western countries to ease the suffering of the displaced Syrians.
It also said that Norwegian non-governmental organizations have shown interest in participating in humanitarian assistance in Syria. A delegation from Norway’s foreign ministry is set to visit Syria in January to discuss the matter.
Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev of the Russian defense ministry also said Friday that nearly 7,500 Syrians, including 6,000 people from abroad, have returned to their homes in Syria in the last week alone.
He added that in the past months more than 1.5 million Syrians have returned to their towns.
