School airstrikes in Syria 'could be war crime', UNICEF says
Russia denies responsibility for the attack as Vladimir Putin says "forces" in the US prevented an agreement to end the war.
Thursday 27 October 2016 16:29, UK
Airstrikes on a Syrian school that killed scores of children could be a "war crime", the head of the UN children's agency has said.
The strike in rebel-held Idlib province on Wednesday may have been the deadliest attack on a school since the beginning of the war five years ago, said UNICEF.
According to the agency, 22 children and six teachers were killed when a series of airstrikes hit the school complex in the village of Hass as children gathered outside.
But estimates on the death toll vary.
The Syrian Civil Defence first responder team and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes killed at least 35, most of them children.
Russia says it was not involved in the attack.
UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake called the airstrikes an "outrage". He added if it is determined that the airstrikes were deliberate, "it is a war crime".
"This latest atrocity may be the deadliest attack on a school since the war began more than five years ago," Mr Lake said.
"When will the world's revulsion at such barbarity be matched by insistence that this must stop?"
Idlib is the main Syrian opposition stronghold, though radical militant groups also have a large presence there.
It is regularly hit by Syrian and Russian warplanes but also by the US-backed strikes targeting Islamic State militants.
An activist at the scene said as many as 10 airstrikes were believed to have hit the residential area where the school is located on Wednesday.
Children across Syria have suffered from the conflict.
Juliette Touma, regional UNICEF chief of communication, said 591 children were killed in 2015 as a result of the war, including in attacks on schools.
Over 1.7 million Syrian children remain out of school in 2016, a staggering figure but a drop from 2014 when 2.1 million were recorded as out-of-school children, UNICEF said.
Another 1.3 million are at risk of dropping out this year.
In Aleppo, the besieged rebel-held city that has been hit by a punishing bombing campaign, teachers and volunteers set up some schools underground to ensure some classes continue amid the airstrikes.
As the conflict rages, Vladimir Putin appeared to blame Barack Obama for the failure to reach an agreement to end the bloodshed.
"A united front to defeat terrorism has in fact not been created," the Russian President said.
"In Washington there were forces that did their best to ensure our agreements did not take off."
Moscow has also dismissed a NATO suggestion that Russian ships in the Mediterranean would join the bombing of Aleppo.
:: Russian ships escorted through the Channel
The RIA news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying NATO had no reason to worry about the battle group.
Andrei Kelin, a senior Russian foreign ministry official, was quoted as saying: "The concerns are not based on anything as our planes have not come near Aleppo for nine days.
"Our battle group is in the Mediterranean. Our ships have always had a presence there," he added.
"Why make some spurious suggestions and then make some political recommendations based on them? It is of course absurd."