Medecins Sans Frontieres-Supported Hospital Destroyed In Syrian Airstrikes

“A building that housed a hospital supported by MSF was destroyed on Monday by aircraft, presumably Russian”, near Maaret al-Numan in the northern province of Idlib, said the British-based monitor.

And in Azaz, located in the northwestern province of Aleppo, two more hospitals and a school building housing displaced people were also hit by airstrikes on Monday.

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. And in a nearby village, an air raid hit a school, killing seven and wounding others, the Associated Press reports.

“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. “The destruction of this hospital deprives about 40,000 people of healthcare in this conflict zone”.

MSF reported that there were at least eight members of staff now missing. More than 11 million people are displaced.

Russian warplanes have conducted air strikes in Syria since September 30 in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake said six of those killed in the attack on schools in Azaz were children. It showed footage of ambulances arriving at the Kilis State hospital, medics unloading children on stretchers and a girl wrapped in a blanket.

A second hospital in Maarat al-Noaman was also hit by airstrikes on Monday, killing three and wounding six. The Observatory said five were killed.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the MSF hospital attack was “completely unacceptable”, but said nothing about who was responsible.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said “we have the plan for a cessation of hostilities and I think everybody has to abide by that”. According to CNN, Doctors Without Borders believes the attack in Maarat al-Noaman was carried out by the Syrian government-led coalition, but residents in both Maarat al-Noaman and Azaz blamed Russian Federation for the attacks.