Russia accuses US of blocking humanitarian aid in Syria

Russia on Friday accused the United States of committing a "war crime" in Syria, saying its army had denied Syrian refugees access to humanitarian aid. "The most severe humanitarian situation remains in the Al-Tanf region," the Russian defence ministry's Syria reconciliation centre said, referring to a garrison where US and other foreign troops train anti-Islamic State group fighters. Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees from the Al-Rukban refugee camp on the Jordanian border are deprived of humanitarian aid because of the United States, which "illegally placed their military base there and forbids approach within 55 kilometres (35 miles) under the threat of death," the centre said.