Medics plead for access to Aleppo
Only 35 doctors left in city’s besieged eastern quarters, serving population of 275,000
BEIRUT— Doctors Without Borders pleaded on Monday for access to treat the wounded in the rebel-held part of Syria’s Aleppo as government forces pressed ahead with an offensive that has killed hundreds of people in recent weeks.
The international charity, also known by its French abbreviation MSF, said medical workers in Aleppo are exhausted and that the overstretched facilities face an impending fuel shortage. MSF, which supports eight hospitals in Aleppo’s besieged eastern quarters, says 35 doctors remain in the area, serving a population of 275,000.
Eastern Aleppo’s Health Directorate said the wounded were sleeping outside overcrowded hospitals, waiting for care. The UN has warned that the Aleppo bombardment by Syrian and Russian warplanes could leave thousands more dead by the year’s end.
“Russia and Syria must stop the indiscriminate bombing now and abide by the rules of war to avoid the extreme suffering of the unprotected civilian population,” said Pablo Marco, MSF’s operations manager for the Middle East.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict through local contacts, reported heavy fighting along the east-west Aleppo front lines. Another activist-run group, the Local Coordination Committees, said rebels were fighting to repel government forces from the city’s largest water facility, which serves more than a million people.
In another besieged area near the capital, Damascus, doctors reported up to two dozen cases of kidney failure that they said resulted from malnutrition. Muhammad Darwish, a local physician, said doctors confirmed renal failure in 12 people in the town of Madaya and were investigating another 12 cases.
Government forces have laid siege to Madaya, home to some 40,000 people, since late last year. Last winter, MSF reported at least 16 deaths there resulting from malnutrition and lack of medical care.
“We are only eating carbohydrates. We aren’t receiving any vitamins or protein,” Darwish said.
The government has prohibited the UN from delivering seeds or dialysis kits to the town, in what the opposition says is a strategy aimed at forcing the town to surrender.
The UN Security Council is deadlocked over how to respond to the Aleppo crisis, with Russia on Saturday vetoing a French-drafted resolution demanding an immediate halt to Russian and Syrian airstrikes and the rest of the council voting down a Russian resolution calling for the evacuation of opposition fighters.
Moscow has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the conflict.
Russia and Syria’s government have both endorsed a proposal by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura to evacuate Al-Qaeda-linked militants from east Aleppo while skirting around the reciprocal part of the proposal, to abide by a ceasefire for the besieged area.
An official at Syria’s Foreign Ministry said the government would ensure the safety of any civilians or militants who desire to leave, saying gunmen could take personal weapons and relocate to other rebel areas. The official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with ministry regulations.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that he blamed Assad for the bloodshed, saying more than 300,000 people have been killed since the start of the war because of his “failure of leadership.” He also referenced previous conflicts in which the international community failed to halt mass killings.
“We should have prevented Srebrenica. We should have prevented the Rwandan genocide.
“In Aleppo, we’re doing our utmost,” he said. “The future of one person, like President Assad, should not block this process.”