(Previous Incident Code: R2745)

In a second round of strikes on the 29th, a charity hospital supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was reportedly  hit in an aerial attack by alleged Russian warplanes, killing as many as five civilians and wounding others. Sources all attributed the blame to Moscow.

Wounded civilians from a raid on the potato market (see incident R2744) were being treated in Owdai hospital when it was struck.

According to a report published by Médecins Sans Frontières, “At around 10:20 am on 29 January, Owdai hospital (also known as Al Ihsan hospital) in Saraqab City in Idlib Governorate was damaged by two airstrikes, which destroyed part of the hospital building. Other medical staff said a first strike hit the hospital waiting room and a second hit an area in front of the hospital, destroying an ambulance parked there. The facility receives donations of medicines and supplies for its emergency department from MSF.

The attack occurred while the hospital was receiving injured people from an airstrike that occurred about an hour earlier hitting Saraqab´s main market, killing eleven people, according to the hospital manager. He said the attack on the hospital itself resulted in at least five deaths, including a child, and injuries to at least six people including three medical staff.

Owdai hospital has now been closed indefinitely.

The 18-bed Owdai hospital is the only public hospital in Saraqab District in the eastern Idlib countryside serving a population of 50,000. Prior to the attack, the hospital had an emergency room and outpatient department, and provided general and trauma surgery. The hospital performed an average of 3,800 consultations a month.”

Local media reported that a doctor broke his leg in the strike, a police officer was injured, as were three journalists.

Footage published shows civilians being dug from the rubble in the aftermath of the raid.