Nearly 50 people killed in strikes on hospitals and schools in Syria

Residents and medics of the Syrian border town Azaz near Turkey say at least 14 civilians were killed after a strike. Turkey blames Russia for the missile attack. (Reuters)

By Loveday Morris and Erin Cunningham-February 15

People carry a stretcher amidst debris after a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was hit by suspected Russian airstrikes near Maaret al-Numan, in Syria's northern province of Idlib, on February 15, 2016. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images)


BAGHDAD — Nearly 50 civilians were killed in missile strikes on hospitals and two schools in northern Syria on Monday, the United Nations said, deepening the country’s humanitarian crisis despite plans for a temporary cease-fire later this week.

Doctors Without Borders said that at least seven people were killed early Monday when rockets hit a clinic that it supports in Idlib province. The group also said eight people were missing in what it called a “deliberate attack” on its facilities.

Doctors Without Borders did not say which group or military had fired the rockets; rights groups have documented numerous Russian and Syrian government strikes on hospitals and medical facilities across the country. In total, at least five medical facilities and two schools in Idlib and neighboring Aleppo province were attacked Monday, a U.N. spokesman said.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday’s carnage “casts doubt on Russia’s willingness and/or ability” to stop the Syrian government from carrying out strikes on civilian targets.

In a statement Monday, Kirby urged “the cessation of hostilities that the Syrian people desperately need.”

The fresh fighting comes after Syrian regime forces — backed by Russian warplanes, Iranian troops and Iraqi militia fighters — have made significant gains against rebel forces in northern Syria in recent weeks. The advances have raised the stakes of the nearly five-year-long conflict, which already has transformed into a proxy war.

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