Seven killed in Aleppo bomb attack on hospital

By Halit Suleyman

ALEPPO, Syria (AA) – At least seven people, including two medical staff, were killed Monday in a bunker-busting bomb attack on the largest field hospital in an opposition-held area of Aleppo province, a local defense official said.

Ibrahim Abu Lays said a Russian warplane dropped bombs on the hospital in the opposition-held Sahor district in Aleppo, besieged by the Bashar al-Assad regime.

“The hospital, which had been attacked by Russian jets before, was destroyed. The hospital was being renovated since the first attack. This is the second Russian forces attack in one week. Five workers and two medical staff were killed in the attack,” he told Anadolu Agency.

“The bunker-busting bomb punched a five-meter-deep crater in front of the hospital,” he added.

Since Sept. 19, when the Bashar al-Assad regime announced the end of a week-long truce sponsored by Washington and Moscow, Syrian and Russian warplanes have pounded opposition-held parts of Aleppo.

Scores of civilians have reportedly been killed or injured in the attacks, which remain ongoing.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, a Beirut-based NGO, has put the total death toll from the five-year conflict at more than 470,000.