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| Hospital shut down after government airstrikes in rebel-held Aleppo | Hospital shut down after government airstrikes in rebel-held Aleppo |
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| A hospital in rebel-held east Aleppo in Syria has been put out of service after government airstrikes in the vicinity killed at least 10 people, a day after the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, vowed to reclaim “every inch of Syria” no matter the bloodshed that caused. | A hospital in rebel-held east Aleppo in Syria has been put out of service after government airstrikes in the vicinity killed at least 10 people, a day after the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, vowed to reclaim “every inch of Syria” no matter the bloodshed that caused. |
| Sources in Aleppo said al-Bayan hospital had been shut down after airstrikes on the crowded al-Shaar neighbourhood of Syria’s largest city, an area that contains several well-known health facilities, including a blood bank and at least three other clinics, as well as a public market. | Sources in Aleppo said al-Bayan hospital had been shut down after airstrikes on the crowded al-Shaar neighbourhood of Syria’s largest city, an area that contains several well-known health facilities, including a blood bank and at least three other clinics, as well as a public market. |
| The missiles hit two buildings away from the hospital, damaging it with the force of the blast, said Abo al-Ezz, who coordinates the Aleppo activities of the Syrian-American Medical Society, a charity which supports hospitals in opposition-controlled areas. | The missiles hit two buildings away from the hospital, damaging it with the force of the blast, said Abo al-Ezz, who coordinates the Aleppo activities of the Syrian-American Medical Society, a charity which supports hospitals in opposition-controlled areas. |
| “The place [al-Shaar] has been hit several times and the goal seems to be to kill as many people as possible in a crowded area,” he said. | “The place [al-Shaar] has been hit several times and the goal seems to be to kill as many people as possible in a crowded area,” he said. |
| “It’s an area crowded with civilians and patients who come to these hospitals, so perhaps the target was either civilians or the hospitals.” | “It’s an area crowded with civilians and patients who come to these hospitals, so perhaps the target was either civilians or the hospitals.” |
| Ezz said the hospital had contained an operating theatre where general, urinary tract and ear surgery were conducted, as well as a medical laboratory and x-ray facilities. | Ezz said the hospital had contained an operating theatre where general, urinary tract and ear surgery were conducted, as well as a medical laboratory and x-ray facilities. |
| He said the area had been targeted twice on Wednesday. The second attack occurred after civil defence volunteers and emergency personnel arrived on the scene, in what humanitarian organisations refer to as a “double-tap” strike. | He said the area had been targeted twice on Wednesday. The second attack occurred after civil defence volunteers and emergency personnel arrived on the scene, in what humanitarian organisations refer to as a “double-tap” strike. |
| The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in the UK, said at least 15 people had been killed in east Aleppo on Wednesday in a series of government airstrikes. | The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in the UK, said at least 15 people had been killed in east Aleppo on Wednesday in a series of government airstrikes. |
| This was only the latest attack in a systematic campaign against medical facilities. Last week much of the National hospital in the province of Idlib was destroyed by a nearby airstrike. Two weeks earlier a regime raid destroyed a hospital backed by Médecins sans Frontières and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Aleppo, killing one of the last paediatricians in the rebel-held east. | This was only the latest attack in a systematic campaign against medical facilities. Last week much of the National hospital in the province of Idlib was destroyed by a nearby airstrike. Two weeks earlier a regime raid destroyed a hospital backed by Médecins sans Frontières and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Aleppo, killing one of the last paediatricians in the rebel-held east. |
| The opposition in Aleppo has also bombed hospitals in government territory with indiscriminate shells and damaged a maternity hospital last month. | The opposition in Aleppo has also bombed hospitals in government territory with indiscriminate shells and damaged a maternity hospital last month. |
| The latest bombing came a after Assad vowed to claw back “every inch of Syria” in a defiant speech in Damascus that appeared to signal the end of peace negotiations to end the five-year conflict, which has displaced half the country’s population and killed more than 400,000 people. | The latest bombing came a after Assad vowed to claw back “every inch of Syria” in a defiant speech in Damascus that appeared to signal the end of peace negotiations to end the five-year conflict, which has displaced half the country’s population and killed more than 400,000 people. |
| In a speech on Tuesday before a newly installed loyalist parliament in the capital, Assad assumed a strident tone, condemning Turkish and Saudi Arabian backing for the rebels, and pledging a renewed campaign to reclaim divided Aleppo, the country’s former commercial capital. | In a speech on Tuesday before a newly installed loyalist parliament in the capital, Assad assumed a strident tone, condemning Turkish and Saudi Arabian backing for the rebels, and pledging a renewed campaign to reclaim divided Aleppo, the country’s former commercial capital. |
| “Our war against terrorism will continue, not because we love war, for they are the ones who imposed the war on us,” Assad said. “But the bloodletting will continue until we uproot terrorism wherever it is and whatever its masks are. | “Our war against terrorism will continue, not because we love war, for they are the ones who imposed the war on us,” Assad said. “But the bloodletting will continue until we uproot terrorism wherever it is and whatever its masks are. |
| “As we liberated Palmyra and many other places before it, we will liberate every inch of Syria from their hands. There is no choice before us except victory.” | “As we liberated Palmyra and many other places before it, we will liberate every inch of Syria from their hands. There is no choice before us except victory.” |
| “This was vintage Assad,” Mark Toner, a spokesman at the US State Department, said in a daily briefing for journalists. | “This was vintage Assad,” Mark Toner, a spokesman at the US State Department, said in a daily briefing for journalists. |
| “He basically got up and said what he always says, which is that he’s going to never back down, never step aside; going to keep up the fight and never recognise the role that he has directly played in creating the conditions that exist today in Syria.” | “He basically got up and said what he always says, which is that he’s going to never back down, never step aside; going to keep up the fight and never recognise the role that he has directly played in creating the conditions that exist today in Syria.” |
| Assad’s address reflected his growing confidence that he can win the protracted civil war. He has benefited from increased backing by Russia and Iran, his two main sponsors in a multi-faceted conflict that has drawn in world and regional powers. It was a far cry from a speech delivered months earlier in which he admitted that his army had suffered military setbacks in the fight and been forced to withdraw from certain locations to hold on to strategic ground. | Assad’s address reflected his growing confidence that he can win the protracted civil war. He has benefited from increased backing by Russia and Iran, his two main sponsors in a multi-faceted conflict that has drawn in world and regional powers. It was a far cry from a speech delivered months earlier in which he admitted that his army had suffered military setbacks in the fight and been forced to withdraw from certain locations to hold on to strategic ground. |
| He had also acknowledged at the time that the military was suffering from manpower shortages and desertions. | He had also acknowledged at the time that the military was suffering from manpower shortages and desertions. |
| Moscow’s intervention last October halted the rebels’ momentum, securing the regime’s dominance in its coastal heartlands and reversing some of the opposition’s gains, at great cost to civilians who had long suffered under punishing aerial assaults by Assad’s air force. | Moscow’s intervention last October halted the rebels’ momentum, securing the regime’s dominance in its coastal heartlands and reversing some of the opposition’s gains, at great cost to civilians who had long suffered under punishing aerial assaults by Assad’s air force. |
| On Tuesday Assad labelled the whole of the opposition terrorists, a word his regime uses to tar all of those who took up arms against his crackdown, and called the exiled opposition “doormats” for their foreign backers and traitors. | On Tuesday Assad labelled the whole of the opposition terrorists, a word his regime uses to tar all of those who took up arms against his crackdown, and called the exiled opposition “doormats” for their foreign backers and traitors. |
| He took aim in particular at Saudi Arabia and Turkey, both of whom back some factions in the opposition, describing the first as “the most backward country in the world” and the second as harbouring “dreams of restoring its empire”. | He took aim in particular at Saudi Arabia and Turkey, both of whom back some factions in the opposition, describing the first as “the most backward country in the world” and the second as harbouring “dreams of restoring its empire”. |
| Assad vowed to retake Aleppo, which has long been a focus of government and rebel offensives that have repeatedly failed, and left much devastation and civilian suffering in their wake. The rebel enclave is supplied by a long road snaking into the city from the Turkish border to the north. | Assad vowed to retake Aleppo, which has long been a focus of government and rebel offensives that have repeatedly failed, and left much devastation and civilian suffering in their wake. The rebel enclave is supplied by a long road snaking into the city from the Turkish border to the north. |
| Assad accused Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of funnelling in terrorists through the Turkish border to fight his troops and prevent their takeover of the city. | Assad accused Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of funnelling in terrorists through the Turkish border to fight his troops and prevent their takeover of the city. |
| “Erdoğan’s fascist regime was focusing on Aleppo because for him it was the last hope of his Muslim Brotherhood project in Syria,” said Assad, describing his opponent as a criminal, extremist and political thug. | “Erdoğan’s fascist regime was focusing on Aleppo because for him it was the last hope of his Muslim Brotherhood project in Syria,” said Assad, describing his opponent as a criminal, extremist and political thug. |
| “Aleppo will be the graveyard of the dreams of this killer, God willing,” he added. | “Aleppo will be the graveyard of the dreams of this killer, God willing,” he added. |
| Assad urged rebels to hand in their weapons and join his army, saying he would only be a part of any political process if its goal was to destroy terrorism. | Assad urged rebels to hand in their weapons and join his army, saying he would only be a part of any political process if its goal was to destroy terrorism. |
| He also praised his key allies, Iran, Russia and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, for supporting his campaign, denying there was any truth to rumours of discord and competing aims among his coalition. | He also praised his key allies, Iran, Russia and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, for supporting his campaign, denying there was any truth to rumours of discord and competing aims among his coalition. |