Air strikes take out Hama ‘cave’ hospital
Hospital built under 20 metres of rock could only be destroyed with advanced bunkerbuster missiles
Ahospital built under 20 metres of rock in Syria’s central Hama province has been destroyed by a powerful air strike, medical sources say.
The Al Maghara ‘cave’ hospital in the rebel-held area was one of the best protected in the country and served around 50,000 people in dire need of medical care.
The clandestine hospital in the town of Kafr Zita was hit by five missiles in Thursday’s strike, says the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), an international coalition of medical charities.
Serious attack
“It’s widely believed to be the most secure hospital in Syria,” UOSSM spokesman Avi D’Souza told the BBC.
“This is the most serious attack in a larger campaign against hospitals,” he said.
The group recorded 14 strikes against medical facilities in Syria in January alone.
It is not clear who carried out the latest strike, but Syrian government warplanes or those of its ally Russia have been stepping up attacks in rebel-held areas.
There were no reported injuries as patients were evacuated upon hearing the circling fighter jets. Causing such damage is only possible through advanced weapons, such as bunker-buster missiles, the UOSSM added.
On Thursday, United Nations humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland warned that the Syrian government’s approval of aid convoys is at “an all-time low” since the UN launched a humanitarian task force in 2015, with no deliveries in the past two months,
Call for de-escalation
He called on Russia, Turkey and Iran to achieve “deescalation” of the fighting in Idlib governorate, and called for a humanitarian pause in the besieged rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta where hundreds await medical evacuation.
“Humanitarian diplomacy seems to be totally impotent, we’re getting nowhere,” Egeland told reporters in Geneva.
Two weeks ago, the UN expressed alarm about a surge of fighting and destruction in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province, the last major area of the country held by rebels, where assaults by Russianbacked Syrian forces have put tens of thousands of civilians at risk.
The assault on Idlib, including areas near the Turkish border, has forced more than 100,000 people to flee for safety since the start of December.