Air strikes hit MSF-backed hospital in Syria, 9 dead

Lake says a third of hospitals and a quarter of schools in Syria are no longer functioning.

Abdulrahman Al-Hassan, chief liaison officer at the Syrian Civil Defence, 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. And in a nearby village, an air raid hit a school, killing seven and wounding others. It did not identify who was responsible for the strikes. The four-story building was once a cement company, but had served as a makeshift clinic during the war, al-Sobeih said.

Moscow did not immediately respond to the accusation.

Another attack occurred near Maaret al-Numan in the northern province of Idlib, where a hospital supported by the medical charity MSF was “deliberately” hit by air strikes and eight people are missing, MSF said in a statement.

Images from the scene showed the hospital reduced to mostly twisted metal and other rubble.

The Observatory says it determines whether strikes were carried out by Syrian, Russian or US-led coalition aircraft based on the location of the raids, flight patterns and the types of planes involved.

An anonymous aid worker said at least one patient was killed and nine Syria staff members were missing and presumed dead. Patients were also missing, but their current numbers were unknown, said the statement.

Also Monday, Syria’s pro-government Al-Ikhbariya TV said one of its correspondents was wounded in a missile attack in the coastal province of Latakia.

“This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms”, said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF’s head of mission in Syria. “The destruction of this hospital deprives about 40,000 people of healthcare in this conflict zone”.

Maarat al-Numan is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Azaz.

MSF said it had been supporting the 30-bed hospital since September 2015.

Turkey described its cross-border shelling as a retaliatory measure.

Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group, while the United States backs it in the fight against ISIS.

Major powers agreed on Friday to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties – the Damascus government and numerous rebel factions fighting it. Moscow denies the allegations.