Syria: children’s hospital in Idlib bombed

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a militant from the Al-Nusra Front, which has changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, was killed in the raid.

“Save the Children supported maternity hospital in #Idlib bombed, casualties reported – numbers unconfirmed”, it tweeted. According to reports, the hospital was the only maternity facility for about 70 miles and worked with about 1,300 women and children a month.

Syrian activists say U.S.-led coalition airstrikes targeting a village in northern Syria held by the Islamic State group killed 28 civilians, including seven children.

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“This is the only hospital specialising in maternity and children in the northern western side of rural Idlib”, a statement said.

Quoting sources on the ground, it said a jihadist from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham who was going to visit his wife in the hospital was killed in the raid.

It released this footage on Twitter of the aftermath of the bombing. The hospital has six incubators for premature babies, and an outpatient clinic for supporting pregnant women and providing after-delivery care.

The number of casualties is not yet known, and is not yet cleared who carried out the reported air strike. The attack comes after four hospitals and a blood bank in eastern Aleppo were struck in aerial attacks on 23-24 July.

“Around 61 percent of the patients at the hospital are mothers”, she said, and “39 percent are children”.

“Continued bombings and attacks in Syria are leading to an increasingly desperate situation for the estimated 100,000 children trapped in the besieged areas”. Indiscriminate attacks, which fail to distinguish between civilian buildings, such as hospitals, and military targets are prohibited and can also constitute war crimes.