Suspected Russian air strikes destroy one of last remaining hospitals in Idlib #SyriaWar. The destroyed hospital in Kafranbel had wards that tended to patients with cancer and lung disordersOne of the few remaining hospitals with an intensive care unit in Idlib was destroyed after Russian and Syrian government jets were suspected of firing a series of air strikes on the Syrian province on Monday.
British NGO Hand in Hand for Syria, which runs the hospital in the town of Kafranbel, confirmed to Middle East Eye that four air strikes had wiped out the hospital, as opposition activists told Associated Press that Syrian government planes alongside their Russian allies had struck the hospital.
The news comes after reports that Russian jets intensified their raids on rebel-held towns and cities in Syria’s northern Idlib province on Sunday night, a day after militants shot down a Russian warplane and killed its pilot.
Along with an intensive care unit, the now-destroyed medical facility included a cardiology ward and a centre for dealing with cancer patients and others suffering from blood and lung disorders. No fatalities were reported, while a representative from the British NGO told MEE that medical staff managed to evacuate all patients after the hospital began receiving reports of attacks on other hospitals in Idlib.
The facility in Kafranbel was the second hospital to be destroyed this month, after a hospital in Maaret al-Numan was also destroyed by Syrian and Russian warplanes on Sunday evening.
After being struck three times on Sunday night, the hospital in Maaret al-Numan was put out of service, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, which runs the facility.
Rescue workers and medical staff were forced to evacuate critically injured patients and premature babies without any incubators.
Commenting on the incident, Fadi Al Dairi, the Syrian country director for Hand in Hand for Syria, said in a statement on Monday: "We are devastated to have to close the doors of a hospital serving a community of over one million people.
"The timing couldn't be worse as this hospital had been supporting victims of the current escalation of ground and aerial attacks."
A representative from Hand in Hand for Syria told MEE that its Kafranbel facility had only recently been equipped to deal with chemical weapons attacks, after a series of suspected chlorine attacks struck Idlib and Eastern Ghouta in the last month.
Three chemical attacks took place in Eastern Ghouta, one of the other last remaining rebel-held areas, since the start of 2018 alone.
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