Edinburg, Tx.- Idlib has suffered great loss after being bombarded by air raids since Monday. Over 40 civilians were killed and over 100 wounded as a series of airstrikes targeted the area. But the greatest loss could be the Healthcare Department, for the Idlib province, that was targeted repeatedly and finally put out of service due to the extent of damage to the building.
According to Dr. Ayman of UOSSM Idlib, on Monday night around 9 p.m. one airstrike killed 6 and wounded many, most of the casualties were women and children. On Tuesday around 10 p.m. there was a total of 7 airstrikes in Idlib, one was very close to the Healthcare Department almost 50 feet away, resulting in the death of 10 and 35 wounded. Today there was a total of 7 airstrikes from 8:30- 9 a.m. and another round of airstrikes around 1p.m., with at least 6 airstrikes, one of those directly hit the Healthcare Department again putting it out of service due to severe damage. At least 17 were killed and 75 wounded. Later on in the evening one more airstrike hit close to the National Hospital of Idlib which is near the Healthcare Department.
The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), supports the Healthcare Department in Idlib which was in the process of emerging as a growing healthcare infrastructure in the province of Idlib. The department has many functions including quality assurance of medications and healthcare services provided to patients at different medical facilities, the coordination among hospitals and clinics in Idlib, and the EMT ambulatory services in the province.
Dr. Khaula Sawah, CEO of UOSSM USA said, “This continuous targeting of health facilities and health systems inside Syria is unacceptable by any international humanitarian law and human rights. For the last two days the Healthcare Department in Idlib was targeted and severely damaged which deemed it inoperable, this will affect 10’s of thousands of people in Idlib as this is the coordinating body among all healthcare facilities inside the province.” Dr. Sawah added, “UOSSM USA calls on the international community to take action and put a stop to this systematic targeting of healthcare facilities, which will have dire consequences on the people of Idlib.”