Warplanes bomb children’s hospital in Aleppo offensive

BEIRUT — As Syrian government airstrikes pounded eastern Aleppo on Wednesday, people huddled around incubators in the basement of the city’s last remaining children’s hospital, waiting in silence as they counted the bombs.

By midday, they said, the tally had passed 20, shaking the ground and shattering equipment in the rooms above. Speaking from their underground refuge, the hospital’s director said he and his staffers were trapped.

The attacks continued as night fell, marking the second day of a major offensive to retake Aleppo’s eastern districts from armed opposition groups. Defeat in Aleppo, once Syria’s economic powerhouse, would be a major blow to the rebels. It could also hasten the fall of their remaining strongholds across the country.

The offensive came a day after government forces and Russian allies resumed attacks across northern Syria, including Russian cruise missile strikes from a warship in the Mediterranean.

Monitoring groups said at least 60 people have been killed in two days in Aleppo province. The number is expected to rise significantly as attacks intensify and underequipped medical facilities struggle to cope.

“The planes are up above. We can’t get out,” said the director of the children’s hospital, who gave his name only as Hatem. “We’ve been hit before, but this isn’t like the other times. We can’t control things anymore.”

Residents said eastern Aleppo’s central blood bank, located close by, also was hit. Video footage showed the aftermath of the fierce bombardment. Fires licked the edges of cars and buildings.

The Independent Doctors Association, a nonprofit group that supports the children’s hospital, said it was badly damaged.

When they finally left the basement under cover of darkness, staff at the children’s hospital found that the bombing had given way to shelling. And as nurses ushered patients back to their beds, the doctors prepared for a long night ahead.