US, allies to blame for attack on Russian embassy in Damascus: Moscow
Russia has held the US and its allies accountable for a recent attack on its diplomatic mission in the Syrian capital, Damascus, saying they are fueling violence in the war-stricken country by colluding with militants and extremists.
The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday confirming Monday’s mortar attack against the Russian embassy in Damascus.
One of the mortar shells hit the area near the mission’s residential compound, while two others landed close to the embassy building, the ministry said, noting that no one was injured in the assault, but there had been property damage.
The shelling is “result of the actions of those who, like the US and some of its allies, provoke the continued bloodshed in Syria and flirt with militants and extremists of all flavors,” the ministry added.
It further went on to say that Monday’s attack was launched from the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus, which is controlled by the terrorist groups Failak al-Rahman and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, al-Qaeda's Syrian branch formerly known as al-Nusra Front.
Elsewhere in its statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the assault as a crime committed by terrorists.
“Once again they (terrorists) have posed a serious threat to the life and work of Russian diplomats in Syria. The basic norms of international law have been violated one more time,” it said.
The ministry further urged coordinated efforts by the international community to fight terrorism and underlined Moscow's readiness to take "all necessary measures" to restore peace and security to Syria.
The Russian embassy in the Syrian capital has come under militant fire several times.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura have put the death toll from the Syria conflict at more than 300,000 and 400,000, respectively.
This is while the UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.
Russia has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria at the Damascus government’s request since last September.
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