At least ten and as many as dozens of civilians were wounded in three alleged Russian airstrikes on the National Hospital in Maarat al Numan in rural Idlib, according to multiple local sources. Reports stated that the hospital, which served 500,000 people in Idlib and nearby areas of Hama, was rendered out of service and that patients, including children in incubators had to be transferred to other medical facilities. The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations condemned the attack, saying that it could be considered a war crime.
The media activist, Jaber Abu Mohammed told Alaraby: “One raid targeted the ambulance department, while a second hit the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The rockets fell in the third on the top floor, which led to significant damage to the construction and equipment.”
According to RFS Media Centre, “the Russian bombardment of Maarat al-Nu’man hospital came days after the bombing of the hospital in the northern Lebanese town of Latamna, which also rendered that hospital out of service.”
Reports of the number of civilians wounded in this attack varied. The Smart News Agency put the figure at 10 including a child and a nurse. However, Idlib Media Centre said that “dozens” were injured.
Geroun reported that “Farhan Haq, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, confirmed on that attacks on medical facilities and hospitals in Aleppo and Idlib in northern Syria over the past few days ‘could amount to a war crime.'”
Geroun’s report went on to give some context to this event: “Russian airliners and airliners are targeting facilities and medical points operating in areas beyond their control. The most recent of these was the targeting Al-Latamah hospital in the northern Hama district with a barrel of chlorine poison gas; 30 people were suffocated, while the hospital director, Dr. Ali Darwish, died.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
