Unosat researcher illustrates the results from data analysis, and speaks of "air attack". But a colleague dampens tones: we are not "100%" certain. Ban Ki-moon has set up a commission of inquiry into the matter. United States says it is a war crime. As of yesterday, UN considers Aleppo east "under siege".
Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The attack on the United Nations convoy on 19 September last which killed at least 20 people, and led to the suspension of the distribution of aid, was an air raid according to an expert from the UN agency that deals with satellite programs, after analyzing images that reflect the stages of the explosion which took place in Urum al-Kubra, a town on the outskirts of Aleppo in northern Syria. However, another expert of the same organism has sought to dampen tones adding that it is not "100%" certain.
The incident - which had destroyed 18 trucks of a 31 truck convoy - had resulted in a mutual exchange of accusations between the US and Russia, unsettling a fragile truce signed earlier by the two powers which has since collapsed.
Washington had spoken of an Russian air raid targeting the convoy with humanitarian aid. Food and basic supplies were destined for the eastern part of the former commercial and economic capital of Syria, now controlled by rebel groups and jihadists.
Since yesterday, the area is considered officially "under siege" by the United Nations because "it is surrounded by the military, there is no access for humanitarian aid and there is no freedom of movement for civilians."
In the aftermath of the attack on the convoy, Moscow had rejected the allegations speaking instead of a "fire" and "vehicles" that "did not show typical damage caused by bombs dropped from above". For US officials the attack constitutes a war crime.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has set up an internal commission of inquiry to shed light on an event which he described as "sickening, wild and apparently deliberate." The attack came just a few days after a US-led coalition raid in Deir al-Zour, which killed 62 soldiers of the Syrian government.
Washington said that was a mistake, Damascus claimed it was a deliberate attack.
At a conference held in Geneva yesterday Unosat researcher (Satellite Operation of the United Nations), Lars Bromley, explained that "the analysis of the data" showed that it is "an air raid”. He claimed this theory was confirmed by the "craters" in the ground compatible with bombs having been launched from above. However, a few hours later another Unosat official, Einar Bjorgo, referred to the conference emphasizing that the agency "is not 100% certain". "There is significant damage - he explained - and we believe it may be an air raid, but there is no definitive certainty."
Since the end of the truce the Syrian army, backed by Russian fighter jets, has resumed attacks against the eastern sector of Aleppo where, according to experts, the final battle is about to begin. In response, jihadists have resumed firing rockets and missiles at the western districts, targeting among others the Syrian Catholic bishop's residence and causing casualties in Christian Armenian neighborhoods.