BEIRUT: Airstrikes by Russian warplanes have killed at least10 people and hit a hospital in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, a war monitor and rescue teams said on Thursday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been monitoring the war in Syria, said strikes on Wednesday night hit areas near a bakery in the city of Ariha, killing 10 civilians.
Another three airstrikes on Thursday hit the Al Shami hospital in Ariha, wounding some staff members and putting it out of service, the Observatory added.
The White Helmets, a first responder group that operates in rebel-held areas, posted a video showing damage and smoke inside the hospital.
Russia’s Defence Ministry denied conducting airstrikes targeting the hospital.
“Russian aircraft are not fulfilling any tasks in this area,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
“Foreign media reports about an alleged bombing of a ‘hospital and bakery’ on the morning of January 30 by aircraft of the Russian airforce in the proximity of Ariha, on the southern outskirts of the Syrian city of Idlib, are an instigation,” the statement added.
Zuheir al Karat, a general surgeon at Al Shami hospital, said via WhatsApp that the hospital was hit by three consecutive Russian airstrikes and that one staff member was seriously injured and has been listed as “brain dead”.
Al Karat said at least six people who live in the area around the hospital were killed during the strikes.
According to the Idlib Health Directorate, around 47 health facilities in the province have been targeted since April 28, 2019, with 20 of them totally or partially destroyed.
It added that, now that the Al Shami hospital was out of service, the southern countryside of Idlib has no functioning health facilities.
Activists in Idlib said the continuous shelling on Ariha since Wednesday morning prompted more civilians to flee the area.
Meanwhile, the German government condemned the Idlib violence in a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Thursday.
Germany “demands that the Syrian regime and its allies guarantee civilian protection and respect international humanitarian law,” the statement said.
“We demand an immediate and real ceasefire as well as unrestricted humanitarian access for all people in need, particularly those who have been displaced,” it added.
The Idlib offensive goes against UN efforts to find a lasting political solution to Syria’s long-running conflict, the ministry said.
Syrian government forces backed by their Russian allies and militias have been advancing into the southern countryside of Idlib for the past week. — dpa
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