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.