The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that 24 medical workers and civil defense volunteers were killed in Syria March, mostly at the hands of the Assad regime.
In a new report issued on Friday, the monitoring group said that the Assad regime and its allied Iranian militias were responsible for the death of 19 medical workers who accounted for 79 percent of the total number of victims. It noted that three others were killed by Russian forces, while the PYD militia killed one medical worker. One medical worker was killed in an attack that the Network said was untraceable.
In its monthly report, the Network said it had recorded a total of 27 attacks on medical centers, civil defense centers and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent centers in March. Regime forces were responsible for 18 attacks, while Russian forces were responsible for five attacks. Forces of the international anti-ISIS coalition were responsible for one attack, while three more attacks were carried out by armed groups that the Network said it was not able to identify.
According to the SNHR’s report, the attacks targeted hospitals, clinics, ambulances and civil defense centers.
The latest figures have brought to 61 the total number of medical workers who have been killed in Syria since the beginning of 2018, the Network said. It noted that of those, 40 were killed by regime forces.
The United Nations has previously condemned the Assad regime and Russian aerial bombardment of health facilities in the rebel-held areas, especially in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta.
The Network called on the UN Security Council to force the Assad regime to abide by UN Security Council resolution 2139 and to condemn the targeting of vital civilian centers.
The rights group called for the imposition of a comprehensive arms embargo on the Assad regime and to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court to ensure that perpetrators of violations are held to account. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
