Idlib health directorate on Tuesday announced a state of emergency in the province in the wake of deadly airstrikes by the Assad regime and Russian forces on the province. The directorate said it mobilized all medical staff to respond to the increasing number of casualties among civilians. The bombing prompted a suspension of the vaccination campaigns in the province.
Head of Idlib health directorate Dr. Munther Khalil said that Idlib National Hospital and the dialysis center went out of service as a result of the airstrikes that targeted the city on Monday. He said that three ambulances were also destroyed.
Idlib provincial council on Tuesday declared Idlib province a disaster area as a result of the intense deadly aerial bombardment by the Assad regime and Russian forces.
An estimated 24 hospitals in rebel-held areas in Syria have been targeted by Russian warplanes during the past eight months, leading to the complete destruction of eleven of them.
The hospitals were mainly in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia and Dara’a, including a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in the town of Maaret Alnouman in Idlib, and Alwatan and the Orient hospitals in Jisr Alshughour. A hospital run by Doctors Without Borders was also hit in rural Latakia.
Russian airstrikes have forced seven hospitals in Dara’a to suspend operations for security reasons.
Vice-president of the Syrian Coalition Muwaffaq Nyrabiya has condemned the massacre committed by Russian forces on Monday night in Idlib, especially the attack on Idlib National Hospital. Nyrabiya stressed that this blatant aggression once again highlights the urgent need to protect Syrian civilians from the oppression of tyrants and invaders. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)