Syrian regime hits humanitarian aid convoy

By Mohamad Misto, Zeynep Hilal Karyagdi

ALEPPO

A UN convoy that was delivering humanitarian aid to nearly 275,000 victims besieged in Aleppo, Syria has been hit, the UN confirmed Monday.

There are conflicting reports about casualties as the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed 12 people, including air workers and truck drivers, were killed in the attack. Media reports said eighteen of a total of 31 trucks were struck.

One Syrian activist speaking to Anadolu Agecny said at least two people were killed in the attack.

Ahmed Nabhan told Anadolu Agency the regime carried out the strike with helicopters that dropped two barrel bombs on 36 trucks belonging to the Syrian Red Crescent.

Nabhan said the two truck drivers were killed and 20 trucks were burned after the attack on the convoy that was making a routine delivery from Aleppo to rural rebel-held areas.

The convoy was traveling to Orem when it was targeted, spokesperson Farhan Haq told Anadolu Agency.

"We don't know yet who is responsible," Haq said.

The regime has not made any statement.

The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday unilaterally announced the end of a cease-fire -- sponsored by the U.S. and Russia – that went into effect Sept. 12.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to UN figures.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, an NGO that until recently was based in Damascus, has put the total death toll from conflict at more than 470,000.

*Emin Avundukluoglu contributed to this report from Ankara