SAMS

Coalition member Syrian American Medical Society reports that its largest trauma hospital in eastern Aleppo City was destroyed after a bunker buster bomb landed at the front entrance. The bomb killed three maintenance workers and injured a nurse and ambulance driver. Only five hospitals remain operational in besieged Aleppo to care for a population of 300,000 civilians, including more than 85,000 children.

July has been the worst month for attacks on healthcare since the beginning of the conflict, says the Syrian American Medical Society. There were 43 attacks on healthcare facilities in Syria in July—more than one attack every day. In 2015, this number of attacks occurred over six months, with 47 attacks between January and May, according to Physicians for Human Rights.

On February 15, four hospitals and a school in provinces of Aleppo and Idlib were struck by airstrikes and missile attacks, leaving civilian casualties, including women and children. Two of the four hospitals attacked were supported by SAMS, another one was supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), and the fourth hospital attacked was an OBGYN/neonatal clinic.

A barrel bomb dropped from a government helicopter hit a SAMS-supported facility in Aleppo today at 1:20pm. The barrel bomb went through the roof of the operating room in the basement of the facility, damaging the hospital's infrastructure and destroying essential medical equipment. The facility has been temporarily closed.

“Working in a field hospital is like death,” said a Syrian general practitioner from Idlib, describing medical practice while under assault from barrel bombs and other attacks. Another doctor from Aleppo recounted, “I cannot forget the sight of amputated limbs, severed heads, and horrible cranial injuries.” These experiences are universal among Syrian health workers, as shown in the new report Syrian Medical Voices from the Ground: The Ordeal of Syria's Healthcare Professionals.