Security footage recovered from a destroyed pediatric hospital in Aleppo shows the moment the facility was shelled by the forces of Syrian dictator Bashar-al Assad.
The video, originally aired by Britain’s Channel 4, shows hospital staff and patients walking in the corridors of al-Quds hospital on Wednesday evening. The city’s last pediatrician, Dr. Mohammed Maaz, is seen leaving an intensive care unit minutes before being killed in the blast. A dentist identified as Dr. Mohammed Ahmad was another of the dozens to die in the attack.
The hospital, located in an opposition-held part of Aleppo, was supported by Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC). The U.S. State Department said the attack appears to have been a deliberate strike by the Iran-backed Assad regime.
The Syrian air force struck a second medical facility in Aleppo, one of four such facilities hit that day on both regime and opposition sides, according to the ICRC.
At least 246 civilians have been killed in the military escalation between regime and opposition forces in Aleppo since April 22, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
In February, as Assad’s forces advanced on Aleppo with the aid of Iranian troops and Russian air strikes, the Washington Post editorial board said that Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama administration have been “enabling…war crimes” by “offering nothing but rhetoric.” The editorial noted that while the U.S. and Russia managed to pass United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, which called for an immediate end to sieges and the bombing of civilians in Syria, the use of these tactics has continued.
While the resolution also called for the establishment of a transitional government in Syria, the Assad regime has ruled out the possibility of the dictator’s departure, and a top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reiterated earlier this month that Assad’s removal from power is a “red line” for Tehran.
In addition to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials, Hezbollah forces, and Iraqi Shiite militias, Iran recently deployed special forces to Syria to further assist Assad. A recent analysis in The New York Times described Assad as “the ultimate survivor,” whose regime refuses to compromise, excels at stalling, and relies on both Iran, its “insurance card,” and Russia for support.
[Photo: Channel 4 News / Youtube]