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Air raids force hospitals to shut in south Syria: monitor
BEIRUT, June 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Air strikes on rebel-held parts of
southern Syria put three hospitals out of service overnight as the government
pressed a Russian-backed offensive to retake territory, a monitor said on
Wednesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said bombing raids, including by
Russian warplanes, had damaged medical centres in the opposition-controlled
towns of Saida, Al-Mseifra and Al-Jiza in Daraa province.
“The Saida hospital was put out of service after midnight, because of
unidentified air strikes near the facility,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel
Rahman.
Air strikes by planes identified as Russian then hit near the medical
centre in Al-Mseifra, damaging it and forcing it to close, he said.
“The hospital in Al-Jiza was damaged this morning. There were Russian air
strikes close to the hospital, which damaged it and put it out of service,”
Abdel Rahman added.
He had no immediate information on the fate of medical staff or the
patients inside the facilities.
The recent closures bring to five the number of hospitals that have been
put out of service by the Syrian government’s week-long military push on the
south.
Troops began ramping up air strikes, rocket fire and the dropping of barrel
bombs on rebel territory in Daraa and neighbouring Quneitra province on June
19.
Russian warplanes then began striking, and troops launched an assault on
the rebel-held half of Daraa city on Tuesday.
State news agency SANA said air strikes on Daraa were a prelude to an
“advance into the southeastern quarter of the city.”
The Observatory said heavy Russian and Syrian raids, rockets and barrel
bombs were still hitting rebel-held neighbourhoods on Wednesday morning.
The Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside
Syria, says it relies on flight patterns, aircraft involved and ammunition
used to determine who carries out air strikes.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1502 hrs