Fighter jets, believed to be Russian, bombed the main hospital, the National Hospital, in the town of Maaret Alnouman in rural Idlib on Sunday, putting the hospital out of service and injuring at least ten people.
Three strikes targeted the hospital in the town on Sunday evening, destroying the building, a Syrian Civil Defense official has said.
“At around 7:30 pm last night suspected Russian warplanes targeted the hospital, causing massive damage to the building. As rescue teams were inspecting the damage and rescuing those injured, the fighter jets launched a second air strike on the hospital injuring at least ten people,” the official added. The victims included a child and a member of the medical staff.
Most of the emergency and surgery rooms have been destroyed. Rescuers evacuated the hospital and moved the patients for treatment.
Accordion to the official, the hospital provided various medical services to civilians in the town and its surrounding towns and villages as well as many villages in northern rural Hama.
The Assad regime and Russian air forces continue to systemically and deliberately target health facilities in the rebel-held areas across Syria. Many hospitals were put out of service as a result, including most notably Sarmin Hospital, Alshifaa’ Hospital in the town of Ehsim, and most recently the main hospital in the town of Kafranbel in rural Idlib.
The Syrian Coalition said that the deliberate targeting of medical facilities is clearly aimed at forcing the civilian population to leave their towns and villages or agree to so-called reconciliations agreement whose terms are dictated by the Assad regime. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Smart News Network)
