a run - of - the - mill rebel outpost , according to U.S. officials . Their target was a secret base of operations for elite American and British forces . In fact , a contingent of about 20 British special forces had pulled out of the garrison 24 hours earlier .
It basically has fallen , ” Trump said . Then he quickly changed the subject to wonder aloud why the Iraqi government does n’t do a “ sneak attack ” to liberate Mosul , it ’s second largest city . The Assad regime and its Russian partners are bombardingconflict.attack.airstrikemissilestrikeeastern Aleppo each and every day in a brutal campaign to crush the opposition under siege there by terrorizing the civilian population . The U.S. government and international experts agree Syria and Russia are committing war crimes there . For Trump to deny that any hope exists for the people of Aleppo to resist this onslaught amounts to turning a blind eye to the ongoing atrocities .
This is clear from her response to ABC reporter Martha Raddatz ’s painfully loaded question about the Syrian conflict . With Raddatz going on about the hundreds killed by the evil twins , Bashar al - Assad and Putin and even tossing in the Holocaust for good measure , Clinton saw no reason to hold back : “ Well , the situation in Syria is catastrophic and every day that goes by we see the results of the regime – by Assad in partnership with the Iranians on the ground , the Russians in the air – bombardingconflict.attack.airstrikemissilestrikeplaces , in particular Aleppo where there are hundreds of thousands of people , probably about 250,000 still left , and there is a determined effort by the Russian air force to destroy Aleppo in order to eliminate the last of the Syrian rebels who are really holding out against the Assad regime . “ Russia has n’t paid any attention to ISIS . They ’re interested in keeping Assad in power .
" Neighborhoods have been erased completely . Now as I talk to you , the aircrafts are in the sky . " Another worker with the group said he does not trust the Syrian and Russian forces to stop bombardingconflict.attack.airstrikemissilestrikethe area . " In a few days , they will bomb us , bomb everything and kill everything like yesterday , " said Ismail Abdullah . In early October , Putin exacerbated the rift over Syria by suspending a key post Cold - War agreement with Washington over disposal of nuclear weapons accusing the US of failing to eliminate tons of weapons - grade plutonium and “ unfriendly acts toward Russia . ”
Hijab called the strikes in Ain Jara a " massacre " and ruled out any negotiations for peace with the Syrian government while there were still " foreign forces bombing the Syrian people . " Russian planes have hammered rebels and rebel - held areas since September in a clear effort to shore - up President Bashar Assad 's beleaguered military , which had been losing ground to the opposition prior to Moscow 's intervention . Russia insists it chooses its targets carefully to avoid civilian casualties , but rescuers on the ground , human rights groups , and Western governments have all chastized Moscow for bombardingconflict.attack.airstrikemissilestrikecrowded public places in opposition territory since its campaign in Syria began . The U.S. says Russia 's strikes use far less precise weaponry than the missiles launched by the American - led coalition fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ( ISIS ) . Both sides , however , have been accused of killing civilians .
July 2012 : The battle for Aleppo begins . Rebels make swift advances , but are unable to consolidate their gains and the city becomes divided 2013 : The government begins bombardingconflict.attack.airstrikemissilestrikerebel districts with barrel bombs , causing thousands of casualties September 2015 : Syria launches a fresh offensive in the wake of Russia 's intervention in the conflict February 2016 : The government captures towns north of Aleppo , threatening to encircle the city
Separately , rebel leaders told reporters that they would not accept emergency medical evacuations if food and medicine were not also delivered to people trapped inside . United Nations officials have said that forcing people to leave their homes in order to receive aid is against international law . But in practice , the government has taken back a number of areas with starve - or - surrender tactics , bombardingconflict.attack.airstrikemissilestrikeand starving people until they agree to leave . In any case , without guarantees and a halt to shelling and shooting by all sides , aid agencies can not begin to provide the medical evacuations and humanitarian aid deliveries to eastern Aleppo that United Nations officials said they would aim to carry out after Russia agreed to extend its cease - fire . Advertisement Continue reading the main story
The French foreign minister has said he will ask the International Court of Justice to investigate possible war crimes in Syria . " We do not agree with what Russia is doing , bombardingconflict.attack.airstrikemissilestrikeAleppo . France is committed as never before to saving the population of Aleppo , " Jean - Marc Ayrault said . France and Spain drafted a resolution on resurrecting an agreement on cessation of hostilities in the Syrian conflict which was put before a vote at the UN Security Council on Friday .