Russian strikes killed some 10,000 in Syria in one year

Russian airstrikes in Syria have killed around 10,000 people since starting a year ago, a monitoring group which documents violence in the war-torn country said on Friday, as Russia insisted that it was targeting only terrorists.

The toll includes 3,804 civilians, among them 906 children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It added that the strikes also killed 2,746 members of the Islamic State jihadist movement as well as 2,814 fighters from other rebel Islamist groups.

The Observatory accused Russia of recently carrying out strikes with some shells containing thermite, a composition of aluminium powder and iron oxide that can cause burns. The material continues to burn for about 180 seconds after hitting the target.

Russia began a bombing campaign in Syria on 30 September, 2015, to help its longtime ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, fight militants in that country's multi-sided civil war. Russia attested on Friday that the only goal of its military campaign in Syria has been to eradicate terrorists.

"You can speculate as much as you want, but the goal is to fight international terrorism," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in comments carried by state news agency TASS. Russia's Foreign Ministry the previous day accused the United States of supporting terrorists in Syria.

Russia has repeatedly said the Americans have failed to prevent US-backed Syrian rebel groups from working with al-Qaeda-linked militants. Conversely, the US has accused Russia of targeted so-called moderate rebel groups with airstrikes in Syria.

Earlier this week, US State Department spokesman John Kirby warned that Russia's bombing campaign in Syria could further destabilise that country and enable extremist groups to gain power. Although Russia and the US support opposing sides in Syria, they agree on the need to eliminate United Nations-designated terrorist organisations, such as Islamic State, that have amassed significant territory in Syria in recent years.

Last week, the Observatory said that US-led allied strikes have killed around 6,213 people since they began in 2014. "A total of 611 civilians, including 163 children, were killed, "as a result of the US-led strikes, it said.

The group said it was "seeking to send a message to the international community," adding that "perhaps these shocking statistics, cries and pain may touch the conscience of this community to react." More than 300,000 have been killed in Syria since the uprising against al-Assad first erupted in 2011.    (dpa)

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