Doctors say Idlib hospital was bombed ‘without warning’

It was a slow night at Al Ikhlas Hospital in a rural stretch of southern Idlib when air strikes ripped through the concrete walls, causing so much damage it is unlikely the building can be repaired.

It hit “right next to the break room”, Dr Mustafa, a paediatrician who did not want his full name used, told The National.

He was resting but, fearing another air strike could soon hit, he and other medical staff scrambled to evacuate the hospital that treats women and children in the village of Shnan.

“There was dust everywhere, and we couldn’t see one another,” Dr Mustafa said. “We were surprised to find one of our technicians stuck under rubble and we helped him get out.”

The second air strike was a direct hit. Although no one was killed, doctors there said three staff members were injured and the building was destroyed, probably beyond repair.

The hospital’s medical director, Dr Zuheir Qurat, said that more than 4,000 women and children from the surrounding countryside relied on the hospital’s services.

There has been a sharp increase in bombings throughout Idlib this week by the Syrian government and allied Russian forces, hitting civilian targets, including at least four medical centres, killing 24 people, including women and children.

Artillery fire also struck a Civil Defence building in the nearby city of Jisr Al Shughour, rendering it unable to provide any services.

It is just the latest escalation in a months-long aerial and artillery campaign over the area, Syria’s last rebel stronghold. More than 1,000 people have been killed since the bombing campaigns intensified in April, and tens of thousands have fled.

A de-escalation agreement between Turkey and Russia from September last year was meant to hold off an all-out assault on Idlib, but the air strikes and artillery fire have continued.