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Tag: Aleppo

  • Syria: Chemical weapons attack in Latamneh, Hama injures 70

    Syria: Chemical weapons attack in Latamneh, Hama injures 70

    The Latamneh area in the suburbs of Hama was hit on Thursday by an airstrike which deployed a chemical weapons agent.

    At least 70 civilians, including medical personnel, have been reported injured from exposure to the chemical agent.

    Injured patients were rushed to area hospitals and were experiencing the following symptoms: nausea, agitation, foaming at the mouth, muscle spasms, and pinpoint pupils. Two patients went into cardiac arrest but no deaths have been reported.

    The patients had their clothing removed, were washed with soap and water, and treated with atropine and hydrocortisone.

    Much medical staff and ambulance drivers were also injured and experienced bronchial irritation as they were transporting and treating patients affected by the chemical agent, including two paramedics from the Sham Humanitarian Foundation.

    Personnel attending to injured persons in the ward
    Personnel attending to injured persons in the ward

    The organisation that provides medical support in the region, UOSSM reported that area hospitals did not have protective masks to protect the staff from exposure and injury.

    The Tashreen and Qaboun neighbourhoods in eastern Damascus city were also attacked with a chemical agent injuring dozens by intoxication and exposure to the poisonous gases.

    In addition to the chemical attacks, the Ibn al-Haitham pharmaceutical factory in western Aleppo was also put out of service yesterday, after the Mansurah town suffered an intense bombardment.

    [quote font_size=”18″ color=”#000000″ bgcolor=”#ddae68″ bcolor=”#dd3333″ arrow=”yes”]The security council resolution 2118 (2013) prohibits the use of any type of chemical weapons in Syria, as do resolutions 2209 (2015) and 2235 (2015) – Al Kassem.[/quote]

    “Since UNSCr 2118 was issued, chemical weapons were used over 150 times. The OPCW, who is mandated to prevent and prosecute the use of chemical weapons, is so clearly failing this mandate that it is an embarrassment to the international community.

    “There is both a lack in timely investigation and prosecution. How can we expect any international laws to be taken seriously when blatant violations go unpunished in Syria. “- Said Dr Anas Al Kassem, Chairman of UOSSM, Canada.

  • Over five million Syrians without water for days

    Over five million Syrians without water for days

    The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) in Syria has said the bombing of the Ain el Fijah water facility in Wadi Barada on December 24 has left over 5 million people without fresh, running water for the past 30 days.

    UOSSM in a statement lamented the growing concerns over a health epidemic with a sharp rise in severe gastrointestinal cases, according to a doctor from Ibn Nafis Hospital in Damascus. The price for a box of six water bottles has skyrocketed to 1000 Syrian Pounds.

    The NGO decried the rate at which a fierce bombardment continue to affect the villages of Wadi Barada.

    According to a representative from the Wadi Barada Media Council, on Friday one medical staff was killed, the executive director of the medical council was wounded, and an ambulance was targeted and destroyed by artillery shelling as it was transporting the wounded through an area supposedly under a ceasefire agreement.  The continued targeting of Wadi Barada with heavy artillery and barrel bombings has led to more damage to the Ain el Fijah water facility.
    Syria water
    A doctor from Damascus said: “We are very concerned that over 5 million people in Damascus have not had access to clean water for a month. The situation could lead to a catastrophe as the risk of hepatitis A, cholera and parasitic diseases rise due to a large population using contaminated water. Water is life and people need to have this basic human necessity to survive. We are concerned that we are not able to access people in besieged areas. We have a medical staff member who walks for 8 ½ miles to communicate the situation in Wadi Barada with us.  This is absolutely unacceptable.”

    While the people of Aleppo have been evacuated from the besieged area, many people throughout Syria are suffering greatly, with no access to food, water or medical care. A lack of communication and information from these areas has made it extremely difficult to perform needs assessments, assess medical facility capacity, and receive accurate numbers of civilians injured and killed from daily attacks. The lives of hundreds of thousands in besieged areas are still in danger.

    In Deir Ezzor thousands of civilians are trapped in the crossfire. The shortage of doctors in the area has left many without any access to medical care.

    Dr. Khaula Sawah, CEO of UOSSM USA said, “Hundreds of thousands of lives are still in danger and we must not forget them. Wadi Barada is the new Aleppo,  with a brutal besiegement and a brutal bombardment of the area. Many are being wounded in these attacks and we have no way of getting to them. They are living without the basic necessities of life including water, food and access to medical care. This is a denial of basic human rights and is unacceptable. We call on the international community to ensure water facilities in Wadi Barada are repaired immediately, and humanitarian aid is delivered to civilians in Wadi Barada, Deir Ezzor, and in other besieged areas throughout Syria.”

    UOSSM is hopeful that the meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan today will usher in the long term peace the people of Syria so greatly deserve. UOSSM urges the international community and the UN to send international observers and ‘Blue Helmets’ to conflict areas in Syria to ensure civilians are protected.

  • Evacuations resume in Aleppo after stand-off

    Evacuations resume in Aleppo after stand-off

    Convoys of evacuees travelled from a rebel-held area of Aleppo and from two Shi’ite villages besieged by insurgents on Monday after a day-long stand-off, a monitoring group said.

    Jan Egeland, who chairs the UN aid task force in Syria, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said.

    “Dozens of buses carrying thousands of people from Aleppo’s tiny rebel zone reached insurgent areas of countryside to the west of the city.

    “At the same time, 10 buses left the Shi’ite Muslim villages of al-Foua and Kefraya, north of Idlib, for government lines in Aleppo,’’ Egeland said.

    The evacuation of civilians, including wounded people, was a condition for the Syrian army and its allies to allow thousands of fighters and civilians trapped in Aleppo to depart.

    “Many thousands more are waiting to be evacuated soon,’’ Egeland added.

    Syrian state TV and pro-Damascus stations showed the first four buses arriving in Aleppo from the besieged villages, accompanied by pick-up trucks and with people sitting on their roofs.

    Later on Monday, the Security Council will vote in New York on a resolution to allow UN staff to monitor the evacuations.

    The draft resolution was the result of a compromise between Russia and France and the U.S. said it was expected to pass unanimously.

    According to a video posted online on Sunday, some of the buses sent to al-Foua and Kefraya to carry evacuees out were attacked and torched by armed men.

    The incident threatened to derail the evacuations, the result of intense negotiations between Russia, the main supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey, which backed some large rebel groups.

    They have been waiting for the chance to leave Aleppo since the ceasefire and evacuation deal was agreed late last Tuesday, but has struggled to do so during days of hold-ups.

    The report says the weather in Aleppo has been wet and very cold and there are little shelter and few services in the tiny rebel zone.

  • Aleppo: Evacuation plan back on track

    Aleppo: Evacuation plan back on track

    An evacuation plan of the rebel-held areas of Aleppo was back on track on Thursday in spite of clashes overnight and was expected to begin within hours.

    Syrian opposition groups and a military media unit run by the government’s ally Hezbollah said that the operation to organise the departure of fighters from east Aleppo had begun.

    In addition, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it had been asked to assist with the evacuation.

    Also, overnight contacts between the parties succeeded in reviving a ceasefire that had originally come into effect late on Tuesday before breaking down.

    An official from the Jabha Shamiya rebel group said the new truce came into effect at 2.30am (0030GMT) on Thursday.

    Reports say at least nobody has heard the noise of fighting in the city since the early hours of the morning.

    Such an exodus would end years of fighting for the city and mark a major victory for Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad.

    As an initial deal stalled on Wednesday and the planned evacuation failed to materialise, renewed fighting raged in the city.

    According to rebel and UN sources, Iran, one of Assad’s main backers, had imposed new conditions, saying it wanted the simultaneous evacuation of the wounded from two villages besieged by rebels.

    Rebel officials said that they had agreed to an evacuation of the wounded from the Shi’ite villages in Idlib province and that the Aleppo deal would go ahead as planned.

    Abdul-Salam Abdul-Razak, a military spokesman for the Nour al-Din al Zinki rebel group, said that within the coming hours the evacuation would begin.

  • Rebel evacuation from Aleppo delayed

    The planned evacuation of rebel fighters and civilians from devastated eastern Aleppo has been delayed.

    The Syrian government is said to be demanding the evacuation of its injured fighters and civilians from nearby towns encircled by opposition forces, the BBC reports.

    A ceasefire was declared in Aleppo on Tuesday and held overnight, but fresh shelling was reported on Wednesday.

    Russia’s foreign minister said he expected rebel resistance to continue for “the next two to three days.”

    Activists and civilians told the BBC parts of eastern Aleppo were shelled on Wednesday morning.

    Ibrahim Abu-Laith, a spokesman for the White Helmets volunteer rescue group, said more than 40 people were injured.

    Russia – Syria’s ally – said the Syrian army resumed firing after the rebels broke the truce.

    Eastern Aleppo has been held by the rebels since 2012. But the rebels had been squeezed into ever smaller areas of the city in recent months by a major government offensive, backed by Russian air power.

    Late on Tuesday, Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, told an emergency session of the UN Security Council: “According to the latest information that we received in the last hour, military actions in eastern Aleppo are over.”

    Under the evacuation deal, brokered by Turkey and Russia, civilians and rebels from eastern Aleppo are to be evacuated to rebel-held areas in northern Syria.

     

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  • Two Hospitals attacked in Syria

    Two Hospitals attacked in Syria

    • SyriaPhosphorous bombs used In Syrian attack
    A hospital in Kafr Zita in rural Hama, has been hit by at least two barrel bombs, resulting in severe damages to the facility.
    According to media release made available to David Lawal of The Nation by the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) in Syria, the initial reports show no casualties even as the facility was rendered completely out of service.
    Similarly, another hospital in Atareb, rural Aleppo, was targeted today by airstrikes, resulting in damage to the facility. Also, no casualties reported.
    On a monthly basis the hospital provides an average of 3,350 consultations, 480 admissions and 285 major surgeries.
    A phosphorus attack was reported in Daret Ezzah in the Aleppo directorate.

    No casualties have been reported but medical staff have raised concerns about the use of prohibited weapons such as phosphorous and their indiscriminate and horrifying impact on civilians.

    “UOSSM condemns today’s attacks against medical staff and civilians. The blatant disregard for international humanitarian law must stop. We call on the international community to hold those responsible accountable for war crimes and use all pressures at their disposal to come to a peaceful resolution in Syria.”

    The hospital, which its name was deliberately not released to protect facilities and staff, provides an average of 1,940 consultations, 339 admissions, 126 major surgeries and 25 deliveries.
  • Assad extends rebel amnesty for three months

    Assad extends rebel amnesty for three months

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday extended an amnesty for three more months for rebels to disarm and surrender themselves, a news report said.

    The extension of the pardon, first issued in July, offered more time for rebels to clear their “criminal records’’ by laying down their weapons and surrender to the government.

    The amnesty also offered kidnappers a chance to clear their records by releasing their captives unharmed and without ransom.

    An unspecified number of rebels around Damascus have benefited from the amnesty, while others chose to leave for rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib.

    The government renewed its calls recently for rebels to surrender in the northern city of Aleppo, where the Syrian army and Russia declared a unilateral cease-fire earlier October.

    However only seven rebels took advantage of the brief truce and left eastern Aleppo, as the cease-fire was largely rejected by rebel groups who tried to prevent rebels and civilians from leaving.

    The Syrian army and Russia have since renewed a broad offensive against rebels in eastern Aleppo.

     

  • Syrian cave hospital heavily damaged by air strikes

    Syrian cave hospital heavily damaged by air strikes

    The “Dr. Hasan Al-Araj” or “Cave Hospital,” in rural Hama, was heavily damaged by two waves or air strikes.
    The facility, supported by UOSSM and other NGOs, is a hospital built inside a cave 50 feet (17 meters) deep inside a mountain.
    Extensive damage was reported to the emergency room and other parts of the hospital resulting in its closure. No casualties were reported and only minor injuries. All medical staff and equipment have been evacuated from the building. The hospital services the rural Hama area and performs at least 150 surgeries per month and at least 40-50 intensive care cases per month.
    Extensive damage was reported to the emergency room and other parts of the hospital resulting in its closure. No casualties were reported and only minor injuries. All medical staff and equipment have been evacuated from the building. The hospital services the rural Hama area and performs at least 150 surgeries per month and at least 40-50 intensive care cases per month.
    The hospital was named in honour of Dr. Hasan Al-Araj who was killed at the doorsteps of the building. Dr. Hasan Al-Araj was in Geneva on December 2015, where he called on the world’s doctors to stand for the protection of hospitals and health workers in Syria. “I am really happy we could start work in this hospital, it is my baby, I worked on it for 13 months,” Said Dr. Al-Araj in Geneva before his passing.
    “It is suspected that the hospital was targeted by “bunker buster” missiles as the hospital was well fortified in a cave and impervious to previous attacks, the bomb caused complete destruction of the emergency department and major destruction throughout the hospital.”- Said Dr. Abdallah D, Director of the Hospital and head of the Healthcare Directorate in Hama.
    The attack comes one day after the M10 hospital in Aleppo was completely destroyed after being directly targeted for the third time in a week, and three other hospitals in Aleppo were put out of service.
    For the protection of our patients and staff and for the spirit of justice and humanity, UOSSM calls for the immediate investigation and enforcement of the international humanitarian law. Laws which are supposed to protect aid workers. It is incomprehensible that no action has been taken so far with years of data on attacks on aid workers. Laws cannot be just or taken seriously if only applied when convenient.
    UOSSM remains committed to our patients and serving those in need irrespective of the dangers. We greatly appreciate donations to help us rebuild the Dr. Hasan Al-Araj medical center.
  • Syria: Aleppo’s largest hospitals bombed

    Syria: Aleppo’s largest hospitals bombed

    Two of Aleppo’s largest hospitals, M2 & M10 hospital, were attacked at the early hours of Wednesday, rendering them out of service.

    The attack coincided with a planned work strike (non-emergency only) by the doctors, medical staff and humanitarians for three hours in Syria (2 PM to 5 PM Damascus time) to protest against the continued targeting of medical facilities and health professionals without repercussion.

    Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) and its humanitarian partners actively support the action of our medical staff on the ground in hospitals throughout Syria. Aid workers are exhausted and need the international community to act. With a clear voice, they say: “stop the killing which claimed hundreds of civilians in the past few days, stop the daily bombings, stop the systematic attacks of health facilities and medical staff, stop the agony of the people of Aleppo and Syria.”

    uossmThe images that come to us are chilling. They show an escalation in horror and barbarism: mutilated children, torn bodies, hundreds of deaths, thousands injured. “Over the last five years of war, we have never seen so many deaths and injury in our hospitals as we did this weekend,” says Dr. Bakry Maaz, the orthopedic surgeon in Aleppo.

    Today, there are about 573 killed in Aleppo and more than 1,600 wounded in less than 10 days. This massacre is taking place before our eyes and aid workers are powerless against the annihilation of the civilian population.

    We reiterate our call for the immediate establishment of a humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate opening of an independent humanitarian corridor. We ask citizens to appeal to their government and the international community for immediate action.

    Our support is unconditional to physicians and health professionals in Aleppo. In a country at war, an action such as a work strike is the only way for these men and women to protest the impossible working conditions and humanitarian catastrophe. For the sake of our patients and humanity, we demand the immediate establishment of a humanitarian truce and a humanitarian corridor under international control.

    Aid Worker Casualty Data: 

    115 medical aid workers have been killed since the beginning of 2016

    • Nearly 800 medical aid workers have been killed since the conflict began in Syria.
    • 14 aid workers of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy were killed in an attack on September 19, 2016
    • 5 UOSSM Aid Workers were killed on September 20, 2016.
  • Syria crisis: Obama ‘deeply concerned’ about Aleppo

    Syria crisis: Obama ‘deeply concerned’ about Aleppo

    United States President, Barack Obama, has expressed “deep concern” about the situation in rebel-held parts of Aleppo, amid an assault by Syrian government forces.

    Medics in the city are struggling to cope with the huge number of casualties caused by the most sustained and intense aerial bombardment in years, the BBC reports.

    Supplies of medicine and blood are running low, as a three-week siege by the army begins to have an impact.

    An air strike on a pumping station has also left many areas without water.

    “The planes are not leaving the skies at all,” Brita Hagi Hassan, president of the rebel city council, told Reuters. “Life in the city is paralysed.”

    “Everyone is cooped up in their homes, sitting in the basements. These missiles are even targeting the basements and shelters that we’d set up to protect people.”

    Aleppo, once Syria’s largest city and the country’s commercial and industrial hub, has been divided roughly in two since 2012, with President Bashar al-Assad’s forces controlling the west and rebel factions the east.

    In the past year, troops have gradually broken the deadlock with the help of Iranian-backed militias and Russian air strikes. Earlier this month, they severed the rebels’ last route into the east and placed its 250,000 residents under siege.

    White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, told reporters that President Obama was “deeply concerned” by the “sickening” bloodshed in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria.

    “What we have seen from the Assad regime and the Russians is a concerted campaign to strike civilian targets, to bomb civilians into submission,” he said.