MSF: 7 people killed, 8 presumed dead in Syria

An airstrike in the province of Idlib destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by the global aid group Doctors Without Borders, while in the neighbouring Aleppo province, a missile struck a children’s hospital in the town of Azaz, killing at least five people and wounding dozens.

A hospital employee known as Moudhar told CNN that staff members were evacuating the wounded after the first strike on the Women and Children’s Hospital when the complex and a road leading to the Turkish border were struck again.

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said Monday that one facility was a child and maternal hospital where children were reportedly killed and scores evacuated. And in a nearby village, an air raid hit a school, killing seven and wounding others. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Monday that the attack “is completely unacceptable”, but said nothing about who was responsible.

The Observatory says the dead include three children and a pregnant woman.

Independent Doctors Association, a Syrian non-government organisation that runs a hospital in Bab al Salama near the Turkish border, said at least 30 people were wounded.

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

He told Reuters: “There were at least seven deaths among the personnel and the patients, and at least eight MSF personnel have disappeared, and we don’t know if they are alive”.

The organization had earlier given the number of dead as nine.

The Observatory determines whether strikes are carried out by Syrian, Russian or US-led coalition aircraft based on location of raids, flight patterns and jets used.

Iran’s foreign minister says there can be no military solution to the conflict in Syria.

The statement said about 15 other houses and buildings in populated zones were hit in the area about the same time.

“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.

Separately, fighting intensified in Azaz district, about 100 kilometers away from Ma’arat Al Numan, on Monday morning.

Eight staff members are now listed as missing at the hospital, which MSF says provided 30 beds and two operating rooms, along with an emergency room.

Russian bombing raids on rebel fighters are helping the Syrian army to advance toward Aleppo, the country’s largest city and commercial center before the conflict.

The YPG, the armed wing of the PYD, crossing west of the Firat (Euphrates) River, where Azaz lies is a red line for Turkey.

It has not been confirmed who carried out the latest attacks.

The United States has called on Turkey and Russian Federation to avoid any further escalation over the Syrian crisis after the two countries traded accusations.

They come days after Russian Federation and other world powers agreed to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria.