Local media reported that one child died and five members of his family were wounded in alleged regime or Russian artillery or airstrikes on Saraqeb. Additionally, an adult male was also reported killed on this day.
According to Halab Today TV, “since yesterday [March 9th], the city of Idlib has been subjected to Russian air strikes targeting medical facilities including Al-Hayat Hospital, and the blood bank [and emergency services] in the city of Sarqib. Civil defense centres and residential areas have also been attacked”.
@yasinaboraed reported a strike by both the regime and Russian on a civil defense centre, while @gH8ytDcQWj5RrrY noted that “planes destroyed the obstetric hospital in Saraqib” – and that casualties were expected. A report by Amnesty (below) also noted these attacks on vital medical facilities.
According to @YusufAd37777161, the family of the dead child (Ahmed Mahmoud Ameen) were originally “from the town of Al Nahla near the city of Jericho” and had then moved to Saraqeb. Five of them were wounded; Ahmed himself died.
A number of other sources said that a lawyer, named Hussein Al Dahir Abu Yamen, was also killed – and blamed rockets and artillery fire.
Amnesty reported on this latest incident – and the ongoing bombardment of the area: “In Saraqeb, on 9 March, Syrian government forces dropped four munitions in an aerial attack that struck al-Hayat hospital, a blood bank, an ambulance response unit, and Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets – all located within 100 meters of each other – according to four witnesses.
“The witnesses said that the explosions caused serious damage to the structures and injured a staff member from the ambulance response unit. The al-Hayat hospital was shut down after the attack and patients in critical condition were transferred to other nearby hospitals while others were sent home, residents said.
“Witnesses told Amnesty International that two civilians – a 25-year-old man and a child – were killed on the same day in aerial attacks on residential neighbourhoods around 150 meters away from another field hospital. They said the escalation in attacks on residential and other civilian buildings in the past few weeks had displaced half of the population to the outskirts of Saraqeb into the farming fields or close to the border with Turkey.”
The UN Commission of Inquiry referenced events in Saraqib on this date in its September 2019 report:
“For example, on 9 March, between approximately 6.40 and 8.30 p.m., government forces carried out an aerial attack in northern Saraqib, launching four missiles, which caused damage to Al-Hayat women’s and children’s hospital, a blood bank and an ambulance response unit providing services to approximately 80,000 residents. Al-Hayat hospital was included in the United Nations deconfliction mechanism and the pro-government forces were aware of its coordinates at the time of the attack. One witness described that, at around 6.40 p.m., a first missile struck a residential area in the vicinity of the hospital, killing one man and one girl. Minutes later, a second missile hit a blood bank in northern Saraqib, located some 300 metres from Al-Hayat hospital, damaging vital equipment and medical supplies and rendering the building unusable for at least four days.
Approximately 20 minutes later, in anticipation of further attacks, patients at Al-Hayat hospital were transferred to an underground shelter, in which they remained for 30 minutes before being evacuated. During the evacuation, between 7.00 and 8.00 p.m., a third missile struck the main entrance of Al-Hayat hospital, damaging a generator and vital medical equipment. Some 15 to 30 minutes later, a fourth missile struck an ambulance response unit located less than 1 kilometre from Al-Hayat hospital, damaging its walls and windows and injuring a male staff member (see annex II for a detailed description of a series of other attacks).”
The incident occured at 18:40:00 local time.
