Russia Killed Over 200 Civilians In Syrian Airstrikes: Amnesty

Amnesty International has accused Russia of targeting civilians during its airstrikes in Syria, which allegedly have left over 200 dead in the strife-torn nation.

According to Voice of America, the report alleges that Russian airstrikes have killed civilians in Homs, Idib and Aleppo provinces in homes and hospitals. Russia launched its offensive claiming it was targeting ISIS in September but soon drew criticism from other rights group including Humans Rights Watch for allegedly targeting civilians and using indiscriminate firepower.

"Some Russian air strikes appear to have directly attacked civilians or civilian objects by striking residential areas with no evident military target and even medical facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries to civilians. Such attacks may amount to war crimes," said Philip Luther, Amnesty's Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program.

The rights group claimed it spoke to eye-witnesses of the attack and also got weapons experts to examine the carnage and the remnants of the weapons used in the strikes only to find that cluster munitions were employed, Fox News reports.

"Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons that must not be used in any circumstances. Each cluster bomb scatters scores of bomblets over an area the size of a football pitch. Because of their high dud rate they pose a continuing threat to civilians for years after their initial use," the agency said while claiming that a mosque and field hospital were destroyed in the attacks and there were no military targets nearby.

Russia has reportedly denied allegations that it attacked civilians while maintaining it has fully complied with international law.