UPDATE - US calls for war crimes probe into Syria, Russia

ADDS STATE DEPT. REACTION

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – In a sign of growing frustration with Russia and Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday called for a war crimes investigation into the allies as they continue an intense air campaign on rebels in Aleppo.

He said Syrian forces hit another hospital in Syria's pre-war largest city overnight Thursday that killed 20 victims and injured 100 others.

"Russia and the regime owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals, medical facilities, children and women," he said alongside his French counterpart at the State Department.

"These are acts that beg for an appropriate investigation of war crimes," Kerry said, adding that the perpetrators "should be held accountable".

Incidents like the bombing of the hospital Thursday night "are beyond accidental now, way beyond, years beyond,” according to Kerry.

"This is a targeted strategy to terrorize civilians and to kill anybody and everybody who is in the way of their military objectives," he said.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said

the U.S. was not saying the bombings already constituted a war crime, but that Kerry's comments earlier Friday only called for the actions to be investigated as war crimes.

Anadolu Agency footage shows wide swaths of buildings in Aleppo's northern district of Tariq al-Bab largely reduced to hollow shells.

The city has been a flashpoint of conflict between forces allied to the Syrian government and rebel fighters.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday offered amnesty to fighters in rebel-held eastern Aleppo if they lay down their arms, an offer the groups have staunchly rejected.

Meanwhile, the UN's Syria envoy has warned that Syria and Russia may destroy eastern Aleppo, where 275,000 civilians reside, by year's end.

Regarding reports Russia planned to reopen military bases in Vietnam and Cuba a move reminiscent of the Cold War and the ever growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia, Kirby said it was up to the sovereign nations to decide where to open a base.