Staffan de Mistura: Aleppo hospital strike appears deliberate. He did not elaborate or comment on who might have been responsible.

United Nations Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday he did not believe the targeting of a hospital hit by air strikes in Aleppo overnight was by mistake, Al Arabiya al Hadath television reported.

During an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya’s sister Al Hadath, de Mistura said he does not believe the shelling of an Aleppo hospital earlier on Thursday was ‘a mistake’, describing it as a war crime.

• He did not elaborate or comment on who might have been responsible.

De Mistura also warned that the ceasefire in Syria could collapse and called for bringing it back to the previous level ahead of the next round of peace talks.

He also called on the international community to create an inclusive Syrian government “that includes all parties.”

A wave of airstrikes and shelling killed more than 60 people in less than 24 hours in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, monitors and activists said Thursday.

The contested city is now one of the main battlegrounds of Syria's devastating civil war, with a cease-fire that has collapsed and peace talks in Geneva stalled.

At least 27 people died as a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee for the Red Cross and nearby buildings were hit overnight in the rebel-held part of Aleppo.

New airstrikes Thursday in residential areas in the rebel-held part of the city killed at least 20 while state media reported that at least 1,000 mortars and rockets were fired at government-held areas of Aleppo, killing at least 14 civilians.

The chief Syrian opposition negotiator Mohammed Alloush blamed the government of President Bashar Assad for the violence. He told The Associated Press that it shows "the environment is not conducive to any political action."

About 200 civilians have been killed in the past week, nearly half of them around Aleppo. There has also been shelling in Damascus, along with a car bombing - both rarities for the capital. The ICRC said the fighting, including the destruction in airstrikes overnight of a key hospital in Aleppo, is putting millions at grave risk.

With peace talks in Geneva completely deadlocked, Syrians are regarding the escalating bloodshed with dread, fearing that Aleppo is likely to be the focus of the next phase of the war.

Rebel commanders said government forces have been mobilizing soldiers, equipment and ammunition in preparation for a military action in Aleppo.....http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/04/28/Air-strike-of-Aleppo-hospital-kills-14.html
28/4/16
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