Global News

United Nations officials alleged that Syria‘s andRussia‘s forces may be deliberately targeting hospitals and schools in the rebel-held northwest of Syria as a tactic aimed at “terrorising” civilians.

Both Syria and Russia denied the accusations on Tuesday.

UN aid chief Mark Lowcock told the UN Security Council since late April the World Health Organization had confirmed 26 incidents affecting healthcare facilities in the Idlib region.

Civilian facilities often provide their exact coordinates to military officials involved in conflict zones to help protect them from inadvertent artillery or air strikes.

Lowcock said some hospitals in northwestern Syria were now not sharing their locations with warring parties because it “paints a target on their back”.

“Hitting a facility whose coordinates were shared as part of the UN’s deconfliction system is simply intolerable,” said Lowcock. “A number of partners  … have drawn the conclusion that hospital bombings are a deliberate tactic aimed at terrorising people.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/aid-chief-syria-russia-attacks-civilians-deliberate-190619072034833.html