From UN report on hospital attacks:
44. Perhaps nowhere has the government assault on medical care been felt more strongly than in the opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo city and governorate, where at least 20 hospitals and clinics have reportedly been destroyed since January. Many of those attacks have caused the death of medical personnel and first responders.
45. In mid-January, government forces barrel-bombed Al-Sakhour hospital in Aleppo. The barrel bomb landed close to the hospital, which serves patients with mental health disorders, killing at least two patients and injuring staff and other patients. The hospital has reportedly been bombarded over a dozen times since early 2014.
46. In late January and early February, government forces reportedly attacked a field hospital in Maskan village, as well as a field hospital and rehabilitation centre in Anadan. Several staff members, including a nurse, were killed in the attack on the Anadan hospital. In early February, planes belonging to pro-Government forces bombarded a field hospital, a rehabilitation centre and a dialysis centre in Tal Rifat in northern Aleppo. Medical staff and patients were injured and the facilities closed, leaving the area with no medical care.
47. On 15 February, pro-Government planes bombarded the street outside a maternity hospital in Azaz in northern Aleppo governorate. Approximately five civilians in the areas outside the hospital were killed, including two guards who were on staff. An interviewee described his relief that none of the infants lying in the incubators had been killed. The hospital itself was severely damaged and closed.
48. On 27 April, there were three aerial bombardments of the area surrounding the Al-Quds hospital, supported by Médecins sans frontières, in the Al-Sukari neighbourhood of Aleppo city. Al-Quds had been the main paediatric referral hospital in Aleppo governorate. Each bombardment struck progressively closer to the hospital, the final one destroying an apartment building, in which many hospital staff resided, only 10 metres from the hospital. A doctor, a dentist, two nurses, a security officer and a maintenance technician were killed, as were approximately 55 people living in the apartment building, which collapsed into rubble. More than 100 people were injured. Essential equipment, including seven incubators, and drugs were destroyed. The hospital, notably its emergency room, paediatric unit and laboratory, sustained such damage that the hospital was forced to close.
49. Less than a week after the attack on Al-Quds hospital, the Security Council unanimously adopted its resolution 2286 (2016), in which it called for an end to attacks on health-care workers and facilities and affirmed the principle, codified in the Geneva Conventions of 1949, that medical personnel and infrastructure are not to be targeted during warfare.
50. Resolution 2286 (2016) had little impact on the battlefield, where attacks on medical workers and facilities continued with impunity. On 8 June, government jets dropped two barrel bombs near the Al-Bayan trauma hospital and the adjacent Al-Hakim paediatric hospital in Aleppo city. Two points, both within 20 metres of the hospitals, were hit, killing civilians in the area and destroying several buildings. The barrel bombs started a large fire and many of those killed, including a 12-year-old boy, were burned to death. Several walls of the Al-Bayan hospital collapsed and the medical store was set ablaze. Attempts to extinguish the fire damaged the remaining medicines.
51. On 20 July, government forces bombarded a forensic hospital in Aleppo city, injuring five medical workers and damaging the building. The following day, the hospital was destroyed by two barrel bombs.
52. With the opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo city and Aleppo governorate under heavy bombardment by government forces, the loss of every doctor and every clinic leaves civilians without the services that they need in order to survive. As life is made increasingly impossible, those who are able flee. Left behind are those physically unable to flee, including the elderly, the injured and the disabled. The most impoverished members of the community also stay, unwilling to leave what property they own and without sufficient funds to travel and live with dignity elsewhere. Men and boys over the age of 13 years also stay, afraid they will be killed, beaten or disappeared at government checkpoints.
53. As the Government attacks the only supply route into the areas of Aleppo city under the control of armed groups, the attack on medical facilities appears to form part of the already documented siege campaign, which is designed to force the fall of the city, and to pave the way for the advance of ground forces in northern Aleppo governorate.
54. Recent attacks on medical workers and facilities were also documented in Idlib, Damascus and Latakia governorates. On 15 February, the same day as the attack on the maternity hospital in Azaz, government planes twice bombed an medical centre run by Médecins sans frontières in Maarat al-Numan, killing approximately nine people and injuring many more. The second attack occurred 15 minutes later, and appeared to target first responders. The hospital was entirely destroyed, with approximately 25 killed, including 9 members of the medical team and 16 patients. Dozens were trapped in the rubble for up to 48 hours before being rescued.
55. On 30 May, shortly after the adoption of resolution 2286 (2016), pro-Government planes heavily bombarded Idlib city. One strike hit the area directly outside of the Idlib National Hospital. There were no casualties of the attack affecting the hospital, although casualties were documented in other areas of the city.
56. On 20 July, government forces intensely bombarded Idlib city. Al-Watani hospital was hit, killing four civilians. Seventeen people were reported injured. The hospital was put out of service. Later on the same day, the health directorate was heavily damaged in a government air strike. Later, the health services in Idlib released a public message, indicating that the health-care infrastructure had been badly damaged and that it would be difficult to resume operations.
57. On 31 March, government forces aerially bombarded the only hospital in the Damascus suburb of Deir al-Asafir. Over 30 people are believed to have been killed, almost half of whom were children. Dozens were injured. On the same day, shelling from pro-Government forces hit the hospital of the Al-Yamedia camp for internally displaced persons in Latakia. While no casualties were recorded, the attack put the hospital out of operation.
58. In none of the reported attacks were military targets present near the hospitals. The hospitals and clinics attacked were all reportedly serving their humanitarian function.
59. Medical personnel have also been killed by sniper fire. On 25 March, a sniper killed Dr. Mohammed Khous as he was leaving Zabadani field hospital in Rif Damascus. Snipers also fired at those trying to rescue him. Dr. Khous was reportedly Zabadani’s last doctor. Civilians have reportedly died from injuries sustained by sniper fire in Zabadani because of a lack of doctors and medicine at the hospital.
60. Members of the Syrian Civil Defence, who provide medical aid at the point of injury and who transport the wounded to nearby medical centres, have been killed in air strikes by pro-Government forces. On 26 April, an aerial attack, reportedly by pro-Government forces, struck a Civil Defence centre in Atarib, Aleppo. Five Civil Defence volunteers were killed and three were injured. On 15 June, an aerial strike hit a Civil Defence centre in Kafr Takharim, Idlib, killing a boy. The centre was destroyed, as were all the Civil Defence vehicles used for rescue and transport of the wounded.
61. As noted above, government forces blocked medical supplies and equipment from entering besieged areas, including Daraya, Douma, Madaya and Zabadani, in Rif Damascus, and the Al-Waer neighbourhood of Homs.
62. Anti-Government armed groups have also attacked health-care facilities, albeit on a far smaller scale. In February and March, armed groups heavily shelled the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood of Aleppo city, held by YPG. On 6 March, rockets fell in the vicinity of the hospital. While the hospital itself was not struck, the rocket fire caused the collapse of several neighbouring buildings, killing over a dozen civilians, including four children.
63. On 3 May, an armed group in the Bani Zeid neighbourhood of Aleppo city launched a rocket attack, striking areas around Doubait maternity hospital in Al-Muhafada neighbourhood. The facade of the hospital was destroyed, as were surrounding businesses. Approximately 15 people were killed, including 3 who were inside the hospital. Twenty people, including hospital staff, were injured. The hospital closed shortly afterwards.
64. ISIL has also attacked hospitals, as part of a wave of suicide bombings on civilian targets, terrorizing the civilian population. On 23 March, five ISIL suicide bombers exploded themselves in different locations in Jableh, Latakia. While the sequence of the bombing is disputed, it appears that, as casualties from the first two explosions were rushed to nearby hospitals, the third bomber exploded himself in front of the Al-As’ad hospital and the fourth, inside the emergency ward of Jableh National Hospital. The bombing inside the National Hospital caused mass casualties, killing 15 members of the medical team and many patients, including those who had been injured in the earlier bombing and who had been transported to the hospital for treatment. Over 50 people were injured. The emergency department was completely destroyed, although the hospital was able to reopen a few days later.
65. In deliberately attacking hospitals, medical units and health-care workers, those responsible have violated international humanitarian law with respect to the duty to care for the sick and wounded, and have committed the war crime of attacking protected objects. The continued assaults on medical care deprive civilians and injured fighters of medical treatment, increasing the loss of life and the number of persons maimed.
I don't use the word retarded but that was retarded; there is no need in arguing with a dishonest person, you have shown to have zero integrity of honesty since when did a 1.5 year war become 2? Since when did over 300 destroyed armored vehicles become a few?
