Aleppo wounded ‘need to be saved’

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) and Red Cross called on Tuesday for dozens of sick and wounded people in the embattled eastern part of the Syrian city of Aleppo to be evacuated through safe corridors for treatment.

The Syrian military, helped by Iranianbacked Shiite militias and the Russian air force, launched a campaign to take rebel-held eastern Aleppo last week, where the WHO said only 35 doctors remained to care for more than 250,000 people.

Syrian progovernment forces attacked the opposition-held sector of Aleppo on several fronts on Tuesday, the biggest ground assault yet in a campaign that has destroyed a USbacked ceasefire.

“WHO is calling for the immediate establishment of humanitarian routes to evacuate sick and wounded from the eastern part of the city,” spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said.

Only seven hospitals remained in east Aleppo, some of them only partially functional, and hundreds of wounded were trapped in the encircled city, she said.

WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said that local health authorities would draw up the initial list of evacuees, which would then would be assessed by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

“The plans are being firmed up on how and where to evacuate, with options of west Aleppo and Bab al Hawa hospital in Idlib,” Jasarevic said, referring to a hospital along the TurkishSyrian border.

Syrian doctors said most of the wounded wanted to be sent to rebel-held areas or abroad, not to the western side of the city, which is controlled by the government.

Medical staff in eastern Aleppo were working relentlessly to save lives but were unable to cope with the demand for specialised and emergency services, Red Cross spokeswoman Krista Armstrong said.

“Hospitals are short of surgical trauma items and blood products for transfusions.”