Attacks on hospitals killed nearly 1,000 worldwide: WHO

GENEVA (AA) - Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in attacks on healthcare facilities worldwide over the course of two years between 2014 and 2015, according to the World Health Organization.

"Over the two-year period from January 2014 to December 2015, there were 594 reported attacks on healthcare that resulted in 959 deaths and 1,561 injuries in 19 countries with emergencies," WHO said in its first report on such attacks Thursday.

"More than half of the attacks were against healthcare facilities and another quarter of the attacks were against healthcare workers; 62 percent of the attacks were reported to have intentionally targeted healthcare," it said.

Syria is at the top of the list with 228 attacks that left 352 people dead.

The West Bank-Gaza Strip is ranked second with 53 attacks that left 14 people dead, while Iraq came in third with 43 attacks that left 114 people dead.

There have been attacks on health facilities in other countries as well, including Afghanistan where 19 attacks left 69 people dead.

On May 2, Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, called for an independent investigation into the bombing of one of its hospitals in 2015 in Afghanistan by a U.S. warplane amid criticism of a Pentagon report into the incident.

The attack by an AC-130 gunship on the hospital in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, on Oct. 3, 2015, resulted in 42 civilian deaths, including 14 MSF staff members. Only disciplinary action was taken against involved U.S. service personnel, while a Pentagon inquiry ruled out criminal charges.

In terms of number of attacks, Pakistan came in at number four with 43 attacks that left 102 people dead, while Libya came in next with 33 attacks and 55 deaths.

Ukraine was also mentioned with 32 attacks that left 17 dead, Central African Republic (30 attacks, 30 dead), Yemen (22 attacks, 70 dead), South Sudan (18 attacks, 52 dead), Congo (10 attacks, 35 dead) and Columbia (seven attacks, five dead).

According to the report, out of 594 reported attacks, 366 or 62 percent of them were reported as intentional strikes; 116 attacks (20 percent) as unintentional; and 112 attacks (19 percent) remained undetermined in terms of intentionality.

Also, out of 594 attacks, 53 percent were reportedly perpetrated by state actors, 30 percent by non-state actors, and 17 percent perpetrators remained undetermined, it added.