The United States strongly condemns air strikes by the Syrian government forces backed by Russia targeting hospitals and civilian infrastructure in northwestern Syria, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said on Friday. After months of complete silence, finally US State condemns Russian strikes on Syrian Hospitals.
Ortagus said:
These attacks over the last 48 hours have hit a school, a maternity hospital, and homes, killing 12 and injuring nearly 40. The latest reported incidents reflect a well-documented pattern of attacks against civilians and infrastructure by Russian and Syrian forces.
Better late than never.
Idlib in Syria’s northwest, the target of a Russian-backed offensive launched this summer to capture it and surrounding areas, is part of the last major rebel bastion in Syria’s 8-1/2-year war.
Syria’s war has claimed the lives of over 600,000 Syrians and forced 13 million people from their homes; half of whom have left their wrecked country heading towards Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and the EU.
WHY SHARE GPS LOCATIONS?
On Friday, United Nations human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva that more than 60 medical facilities have been hit in Syria’s Idlib province in the past six months. They include four this week, and appear to have been deliberately targeted by government-affiliated forces.
Mr. Colville did not mention that the United Nations shared with Russia the GPS location of the hospitals bombed. For the purpose of avoiding targeting them even though many the rebels established in remote areas. The Russians would never have detected the underground hospitals if not for the U.N.
Ortagus added:
We urge Russia and the Assad regime to resolve this conflict through the U.N.-facilitated political process and to stop waging war in civilian areas.
The criticism comes one day after Russia blasted US policy with regard to arms control.
Tit for tat? Maybe, but Syrians will take any support that comes their way. Even if it’s part of a larger diplomatic row.
Reuters contributed to this article.
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