US justifies terror acts in Syria, says Russia

Army takes on rebels with full might at Aleppo

Russia on Wednesday  lashed out at the United States for backing the armed opposition to the Syrian regime, saying Washington's failure to condemn the July 18 blast that killed top security officials meant it was justifying terror.

“This is quite an awful position, I cannot even find the words to make clear how we feel,” Lavrov told reporters. “This is directly justifying terrorism. How can this be understood?” Lavrov expressed bewilderment at calls on Russia to clarify its position on Syria, saying Moscow’s policy was “crystal-clear” and it was the West whose actions were contradictory.

He criticised US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, saying she had argued that the attacks in Damascus meant the UN Security Council had to agree a sanctions resolution against Syria last week that Russia later vetoed. “In other words, to say it in plain Russian, this means ‘we (the United States) will continue to support such terrorist acts for as long as the UN Security Council has not done what we want’,” Lavrov said.
Russia has repeatedly rejected accusations Moscow is backing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the crisis.

Meanwhile, the  the Syrian army turned its forces on Aleppo, ordering an armored column to advance on the country’s second biggest city and pounding rebel fighters there with artillery and attack helicopters.

Turkey closes border

As hostilities intensified near the Turkish border, Turkey said it was closing its crossing posts, although the United Nations said refugees fleeing Syria would be allowed through.
Two top Syrian diplomats, in the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus, have deserted their posts, becoming the latest officials to abandon the Damascus government, rebels said.

The 16-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad has been transformed from an insurgency in remote provinces into a battle for control of the two main cities, Aleppo and the capital, Damascus, where fighting exploded last week.

Assad’s forces have launched massive counter assaults in both cities. They appear to have beaten rebels back from neighborhoods in the capital and are turning towards Aleppo, a commercial hub in the north.

Syrian forces fired artillery and rockets at the northern Damascus suburb of al-Tel in an attempt to seize it from rebels, causing panic and forcing families to flee, residents and opposition activists said.