Duel intensifies as US blames Russia for Syria convoy strike

Halt All Flights Over War Zone, Demands Kerry

The war of words be tween US and Russia over Syria escalated on Wednesday as American officials blamed Moscow for the deadly bombing of a United Nations humanitarian aid convoy in the war-torn country. US secretary of state John Kerry demanded that Russia and Syria immediately halt flights over Syrian battle zones, in what he called the last chance to salvage a collapsing ceasefire and find a way “out of the carnage“.

Moscow reacted furiously to “unsubstantiated“ accusations from the US that its planes were responsible for the bombing that destroyed at least 18 trucks on Tuesday and killed more than 20 civilians.

This came even as the Russian navy said it would be sending its aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean as part of Moscow's efforts to reaffirm its influence in Syria and showcase its resurgent military might. American officials said their intelligence information suggested Russian aircraft had actually carried out the attack. “We have a very good picture of the skies over Syria, as well as where there's activity,“ the official said.“We know the plane in question was Russian, not Syrian, and was directly overhead.“

An impassioned Kerry faced off with Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov at the UN Security Council in New York, saying the bombing of the aid convoy in Syria raised “profound doubt whether Russia and the Assad regime can or will live up to“ ceasefire obligations.

In Libya, dowry of gun, suicide vest

Documents retrieved from Sirte, the Islamic State terror group's last bastion in Libya, record the variety of dowries offered by militant grooms to their future wives, including an explosive belt, a Kalashnikov and the offer to memorise parts of the Quran. The marriage documents were posted on Wednesday on the Facebook page of a Libyan anti-IS operation known as al-Bonyan al-Marsous, and were stamped by a judge in a Sirte religious court. The Facebook post says the documents were found in the Sirte courthouse. AP

(TOI)