Airstrike destroys MSF-supported clinic in northern Syria

Mirella Hodeib of Doctors Without Borders – also known by its French acronym MSF – said the airstrike destroyed the MSF-supported structure in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province.

Not less than nine people had lost their lives including a child, as said by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The organisation supports around 150 hospitals in Syria.

In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in Russian air strikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey.

The facility in Maarat al-Numan was struck by four rockets in the early hours of Monday morning, and at least eight staff members are now missing.

The strike comes after just days after Russian Federation and other world powers agreed to a limited cessation of hostilities after talks in Munich.

The clinic, which has 54 staff and holds 30 beds, is financed by the medical charity. This caused partial damage to the hospital building, while putting its ambulance service out of action, according to an MSF statement.

Since the start of this year alone, 14 health facilities in Syria have been hit, which MSF said confirmed that hospitals and clinics were no longer places where patients could recover in safety.

But a Kremlin statement made clear Russian Federation was committed to its campaign against Islamic State and “other terrorist organisations”, an indication that it would also target groups in western Syria where jihadists such as al-Qaeda are fighting Assad in close proximity to rebels deemed moderate by the West.