A makeshift clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders has been destroyed by an air strike in northern Syria, a spokeswoman for an global aid agency has said. The Observatory, which tracks the casualties in Syria’s five-year civil war, said dozens were also wounded in the airstrike.
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An MSF spokesperson confirmed that a hospital supported by the aid group was struck in Maaret al-Numan, about 280 kilometres (170 miles) north of Damascus, but was unable to give a death toll.
“This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms”, said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, the head of MSF’s Syria mission. “The destruction of this hospital deprives about 40,000 people of healthcare in this conflict zone”.
A child is among nine people feared dead after a medical centre in northern Syria was hit in a suspected Russian airstrike.
At least 14 civilians have been killed after missiles, allegedly dropped by Russian jets, hit a children’s hospital, a school and other locations in the rebel-held Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish border, a medic and two residents said.
Doctors Without Borders says an attack on a clinic in northern Syria supported by the group has killed seven people and that another eight are presumed dead.
“The entire building has collapsed on the ground”, said opposition activist Yahya al-Sobeih, speaking by telephone from Maaret al-Numan. Activists say the facility was four stories and once was a cement company.
He added that paramedics and workers are now working on removing the rubble.
Abdulrahman Al-Hassan, chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil Defense, a group of first responders known as the “White Helmets”, said the women’s hospital in Azaz was hit by two surface-to-surface missiles.
There were also reports on Monday morning of another two hospitals in Azaz city being attacked.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday vowed the “harshest reaction” should the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, advance on Azaz, a town near the border held by Syrian rebels.
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She said more fighting “is obviously not what we expect”.
