Syrian medical NGOs demand end to ‘systematic killing’

A coalition of medical NGOs in Syria have issued a joint statement condemning regime attacks on medical facilities in Idlib, urging the United Nations to take action to protect civilians.

The statement was issued on Friday by the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, a collection of nine medical charities in Syria, who have called for an immediate investigation and prosecution of war crimes for atrocities committed against medical staff.

"The systematic killing of medical staff, children, and civilians must be stopped before it is too late," the statement said.

"Eight medical facilities in Idlib were deliberately attacked in April, paralysing the medical infrastructure and leaving thousands without access to medical care. Numerous other hospitals throughout Syria were also attacked in April."

The latest attack happened early Thursday, when a hospital in Idlib specialising in surgery was struck by four airstrikes.

Three people were killed and the hospital put out of service, the NGOs said.

On the same day, an ambulance and evacuation medical point in Idlib were also attacked, killing two paramedics. Eight ambulances were destroyed in total.

Civilian deaths in Syria from Russian airstrikes are at their highest since the fall of rebel-held Aleppo to regime forces in December according to one monitoring group. 

According to the UK-based Airwars – which specialises in monitoring and assessing civilian casualties from international airstrikes in Syria, Iraq, and Libya – heightened civilian death tolls have come in the context of ongoing ground assaults, led by the Assad regime, against rebel forces in Aleppo, Hama, and Idlib, which Moscow has backed with aerial campaigns. 

On Tuesday, airstrikes on a rebel-held village in northwest Syria killed 12 people and put a nearby field clinic out of service early on Tuesday.

It was the second medical facility in rebel-held Idlib province to be targeted in four days, after a warplane on Saturday severely damaged a makeshift hospital set up in a cave. 

The World Health Organization has called Syria the world's most dangerous place for health workers. 

The province of Idlib has been under the control of rebel and extremist groups since spring 2015 and is regularly bombarded by both Syrian and allied Russian warplanes.

In early April, at least 88 civilians were killed in a suspected chemical attack on Khan Sheikhun, a town further south in Idlib province.