Aleppo Hospital Hit as Syria Army Presses Assault

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

The largest hospital in rebel-held east Aleppo was bombed on Saturday for the second time in days as Syrian government forces pressed a Russian-backed offensive to retake the entire city.

Aleppo, once Syria's vibrant commercial powerhouse, is now at the heart of a major military campaign by President Bashar Assad's fighters and his steadfast ally Moscow.

The offensive, announced on September 22, has seen dozens of civilians killed and residential buildings flattened in the east, where an estimated 250,000 people live under government siege.

As the situation for civilians grows increasingly dire, the biggest hospital in the rebel-held half of the city was hit by two barrel bombs on Saturday, the medical organisation that supports it said.

"Two barrel bombs hit the M10 hospital and there were reports of a cluster bomb as well," said Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS).

Sahloul said a small group of patients and doctors "were inside the hospital for basic triage, bandaging, and cleaning services for emergency cases" when the bombardment began and remain trapped there.

SAMS radiologist and hospital administrator Mohammad Abu Rajab made an urgent call for help on Saturday morning from inside M10.

"The hospital is being destroyed! SOS, everyone!" he said in an audio message distributed to journalists.

M10 had already been hit on Wednesday along with the second-largest hospital in the area, known as M2, in what UN chief Ban Ki-moon denounced as "war crimes."

That bombardment heavily damaged the two facilities and left only six fully-functional hospitals in the city's east, according to SAMS.

- Growing civilian casualties -The World Health Organization has called Syria the most dangerous place in the world for health workers, and Aleppo in particular has seen much of its medical infrastructure destroyed or heavily damaged. 

Since fighting first broke out there in 2012, Aleppo has been divided by a front line between rebel forces in the east and government troops in the west. 

There have been mounting civilian casualties on both sides of the city.

More than 220 people have been killed by bombardment on Aleppo's east since the government launched its offensive to seize the whole city on September 22, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday.

Six children were among 20 civilians killed in the rebel-held sector on Friday, the British-based monitor said.

In west Aleppo, rebel rocket fire killed 15 civilians and wounded 40 on Friday, state television reported.

The assault has seen government forces seize territory in both the Suleiman al-Halabi neighbourhood in the city centre, as well on the northern edges of Aleppo.

On Saturday, regime loyalists backed by heavy raids advanced on the edges of the Bustan al-Basha neighbourhood in Aleppo's north, the Observatory said.

An AFP correspondent in the rebel-held eastern districts said clashes and the loud booms of shelling could be heard around the Suleiman al-Halabi and Bustan al-Basha fronts throughout the night.  

- 'Bombs are raining' -Residents of regime-held areas expressed relief that the rebels were being pushed back but said they feared retaliation.

"We were happy when we heard about the army's advance," said Majed Abboud, a 32-year-old car dealer.

"But I'm afraid that with these ferocious clashes, there will be some kind of reaction from the armed groups," he said.

The battle for Aleppo has sparked some of the most brutal violence since the March 2011 beginning of Syria's conflict, which has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced over half the population.

The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical charity has warned that the recent bombardment was provoking a "bloodbath" in the city.

"Bombs are raining from Syria-led coalition planes and the whole of east Aleppo has become a giant kill box," MSF director of operations Xisco Villalonga said in a statement Friday.

But diplomatic efforts to put an end to the fighting across the country have all but collapsed as tensions continue to rise between key outside players.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday accused Washington of protecting the former al-Qaida affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, once known as Al-Nusra Front, in its effort to overthrow Assad.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Russia was in danger of becoming "a pariah nation" and the attacks in Aleppo were "unquestionably a war crime".

Comments 26
Missing humble 01 October 2016, 11:18

The Butcher is the greatest criminal of war.

Thumb Elemental 01 October 2016, 21:03

I noticed you deviated from the fact that a hospital was hit, but that's ok right? You and salafi's are both trash, takia rat.

Thumb Hayek.Feghali.Abdelatif 02 October 2016, 03:26

Another salafi butchers supporter
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37494519

Thumb Mystic 01 October 2016, 13:04

Good salafi pet.

Thumb Mystic 01 October 2016, 13:05

Does your women drive cars?

Thumb Mystic 01 October 2016, 13:27

you are a saudi wahabi.

Thumb .mowaten. 01 October 2016, 13:47

Mystic: I also thought for a while this open sewer mouth was a takfiri, until he used a classical israeli line (by mistake?), the one claiming palestinians use children as human shields to justify their mass murders. This guy is simply a paid israeli hasbara agent.
Granted, it doesnt make much difference, but thought I'd et you know. Have a good weekend my friend! :)

Thumb .mowaten. 01 October 2016, 13:50

PS: this falls in line with their policy of inciting hatred and division among arabs/muslims, and shows how much they hope for a "fitna" that would keep their enemies busy killing each other...

Thumb walid121 01 October 2016, 14:02

Mowaten I'm not a big poster here but I have been using this site for over 33 years and recently I have been liking your posts, your the only one informing these deluded ignorants. :)

Thumb justin 01 October 2016, 18:28

Not only the Israelis accuse others by using the classical line of " women and children as human shields" but also iranians do exactly the same thing and not by mistake.

".mowaten. 30 July 2016, 16:43 135
unfortunately in other areas terrorists want to keep the civilians as hostages and human shields"

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/213961

Thumb ashtah 01 October 2016, 19:08

Over 100 Children Among 338 Killed in Aleppo Attacks This Week, W.H.O. Says

Dr. Richard Brennan, the organization’s director of emergency response, told reporters that many of the 846 people wounded were expected to die for lack of treatment. That includes 261 children, he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/01/world/middleeast/aleppo-syria-civilians.html?rref=world/middleeast

Thumb .mowaten. 01 October 2016, 19:32

The difference is that here the fact was real and documented, it's not an afterthought to justify unjustifiable murders.

Entrances to the corridors were effectively shut in rebel areas inside the city on Friday, the Observatory said.

The other end of the passages, in government-held territory, were open however, according to the monitor, which relies of a wide network of sources inside Syria for its information.

"Since they were established "around 12 people managed to use the Bustan al-Qasr corridor before rebel groups reinforced security measures and prevented families from approaching the corridors," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said."
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syria-rebels-prevent-civilians-leaving-aleppo-monitor

Foreign terrorists in syria have been using syrian civilians as hostages and human shields for years, even rami abdelrahman cannot deny it.

Thumb Puppet 01 October 2016, 19:51

I respect Mr. Mowaten for always providing real and documented facts.

Thumb Elemental 01 October 2016, 21:05

Sunni's in general you mean. I can understand killing fighters, as you should both be doing, but killing civilians? You clearly need psychiatric care. ISIS and HA keep killing eachother, you're both garbage...oh wait I shouldn't insult garbage like that.

Missing Rima-Al-Khatib 01 October 2016, 22:04

Which country are you a mowaten of ? Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran or Yemen..... Certainly not Lebanon, oh no!

Thumb Hayek.Feghali.Abdelatif 02 October 2016, 03:29

some narrow-minded dreaming...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37494519

Thumb Hayek.Feghali.Abdelatif 02 October 2016, 03:30

Another salafi pet
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37494519

Thumb liberty 02 October 2016, 03:38

yes, there is a difference when the iranian sectarian mouthpiece says it. He has the facts right from the source!

Thumb liberty 02 October 2016, 03:40

Kerry made a mockery of Nassrallah's propaganda about the USA being his number one enemy, the great satan, and all his rants about death to amreeka;)

Missing Rita.Nahhas 02 October 2016, 07:56

OMG ! OMG ! OMG!

Even on an article regarding bombing of a hospital, I find you @mowaten spamming, trolling, and terrorizing other posters. What kind of person are you? New evidence surfaces by the minute that you are a paid poster but the question remains who pays you and for what exact purpose? Is it the Iranian embassy, is it the revolutionary guard, is it the syrian intelligence or the ex-KGB? These questions must be answered by you and NOW!

Thumb kanaandian 02 October 2016, 08:47

these arab muslims dont get it. for us, either side is bad. assad committed bad crimes in lebanon and i believe justice has been served there; the islamists on the other hand, commit crimes everytime they look in the mirror. may allah destroy each and every last islamist criminal savage on the planet

wishing the best for vladimir putin who stands in the face of US backed saudi savagery/destruction, just as they did to (libya, iraq, afghanistan, and now syria)

Thumb galaxy 02 October 2016, 09:46

why don't you as a shia iranian tell us what the saudis did in yemen? they stood up against an iranian sectarian minority terrorist group just like hezbollah who took over the country militarily when no one was armed to stand up to their aggression.

Tell us more about the peaceful efforts of iran and their surrogate terrorist militia hezbollah in Syria. Are they opening schools, churches and mosques?

Spare us your iranian propaganda

Thumb galaxy 02 October 2016, 09:51

lol @justin! you just choked the iranian.

Thumb kanaandian 02 October 2016, 10:02

the saudi APEry coalition launched missiles into hospitals and schools in yemen, the syrian salafists were cheerful and thanking their allah for the destruction of dead children. yet here they try to demonize russia for backing assad while the west supports the apery coalition, led by the filthy head cutting saudis.

no good side here folks, just one a little worse then the other.

Thumb barrymore 02 October 2016, 10:27

maybe you are no literate enough or it could be deliberate takiah typical of your kind: It is your Assad and Russia that bombed a hospital and not KSA.

What a despicable lowlife!

Thumb enterprise 03 October 2016, 04:58

Syrie : l'émotion d'un casque blanc syrien après le sauvetage d'un bébé
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDWtwexSnqI