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| A rescuer trying to save a little girl in the area hit by the air strikes in Aleppo (Image: The Daily Mail Online) |
An air strike
hit a hospital located in the rebel-held area in the city of Aleppo in Syria on
Friday, 29 April, as the fighting intensifies in Syria despite the ceasefire
mediated by the UN and the world powers and declared since 28 February.
A hospital is
located in Al-Marja district in Aleppo, controlled by the rebels. The hospital
was operating under support of the Doctors Without Borders organization. More
than 30 people were killed in an air strike, most of them medical personnel and
patients of the hospital and inhabitants of the neighboring residential area. There
are also children among the victims of the recent attack. Dozens were left
wounded.
This is the
second attack that targeted a medical facility in Aleppo during the latest
week, as the hospital in Al-Quds area was striken earlier this week leaving
dozens dead.
A Friday attack
was strongly condemned by the UN and world leaders as a terrible act of
violence and a "deliberate strike". Assad's forces are accused of
being behind the hospital attack, same as the earlier hospital attack in the
city of Allepo, though the government forces denied these accusations. US and
Germany as well have accused the pro-government forces of the Friday attack.
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| Evacuation of injured people after the attack of the hospital and the nearby area in Aleppo (Image: Times of Israel) |
The latest week
was marked by the intensifying of combat between the rebels and the government
forces in Aleppo, Damascus, Latakia and other cities and areas of Syria. The
rebels have been attacking the government-held areas with the rockets and
artillery fire, while the government forces answered with the shelling and the
air raids and strike in the areas controlled by the anti-government forces. The
recent fighting earlier this week has left more than 200 people dead and
hundreds of wounded.
Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights reported that the government strikes have left at
least 1230 civilians, among them 18 children, during the attacks in the
rebel-held areas, while the rebels' shelling killed at least 71 civilians
including 13 children in the government-held areas as well.
Situation in
Syria remains critical and tragic, as the biggest losses are among the
civilians living in the conflict area. UN and international community called on
the sides to halt the violence, as the Syrian peace talks currently held in
Geneva are nearly failing due to the withdrawal of the anti-government forces'
representatives from the negotiations' process as a sign of protest against
intensifying of fighting and Assad forces' attacks.
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| Al-Quds hospital in Aleppo hit earlier this week (Image: The Guardian) |
New short truce
was declared on Friday in different parts of Syria including Damascus and
Latakia, where the combat intensified during the recent weeks. The previous
ceasefire, mediated by UN and world powers, calmed the situation a little and
allowed humanitarian aid to be delivered to the war-torn regions, though the
situation deteriorated rapidly, as the fighting between the Assad's and rebels'
forces resumed with the new intensity.
US in their turn called on Russia as a main ally
of Bashar Al-Assad regime in Syria to influence him and to declare the
ceasefire. Thus, the sides have reached a fragile agreement and declared a
short truce in Syria, although the city of Aleppo, where the violent combat
continues, was not included in the list of the cities and areas where the short
temporary truce was declared. The ceasefire will start on Saturday morning and
will last for only one day in Damascus eastern part and for three days in other
parts of Damascus and in the northern city of Latakia. Aleppo was not mentioned
in the statement.
More than 270
000 people were killed in Syria since the beginning of the conflict in 2011,
hundreds of thousands injured, while nearly half of the country's population
was forced to leave the country escaping the war.
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