ALEPPO, Syria — The staff at the Idlib Health Directorate and the medical cadres in the province hospitals protested in front of the directorate building Feb. 6, denouncing the repeated attacks by Russian and Syrian warplanes targeting medical facilities and hospitals in the Idlib province and its surroundings in northwestern Syria, coinciding with the ground operation of the regime forces and their allies, Russia and Iran.
Protesters called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to visit Idlib province himself and see the targeting of hospitals and health facilities, which threatens the lives of the 3 million people who live in the area.
In November 2019, Syrian regime forces and fighters supported by Russia and Iran began a ground military offensive against the opposition-held areas in northwestern Syria, but ground attacks escalated on Dec. 20, 2019. The regime forces have since taken control of dozens of villages and towns after they bombed them with various types of weapons, by land and air, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries among civilians, displacing thousands of others.
Russian warplanes bombed the Sarmin Health Center Feb. 4, which led to the almost complete destruction of the building. Warplanes targeted al-Huda Hospital in the town of Hoor in the western countryside of Aleppo Feb. 1, destroying large parts of the building.
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