MidEast

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U.S. Says Assad Behind Aleppo Attack That Killed Dozens, Including City’s Last Pediatrician

by TheTower.org Staff |

A barrage of airstrikes that destroyed a hospital in a rebel-held area of the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing patients and doctors, appears to have been a deliberate attack by the Iran-backed regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.

“The indications that we have now are that these strikes were conducted solely by the regime,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby.

The assault took place on Wednesday evening and killed at least 60 people, including Aleppo’s last pediatrician, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and the International Committee for the Red Cross. The hospital was supported by both aid groups. Activists identified the pediatrician as Mohammed Waseem Maaz, and another casualty as a dentist. A local rescue unit said it was still working to pull bodies from the rubble on Thursday evening.

“This devastating attack has destroyed a vital hospital in Aleppo, and the main referral center for pediatric care in the area,” said Muskilda Zancada, the head of MSF’s mission in Syria. “Where is the outrage among those with the power and obligation to stop this carnage?”

While Russian warplanes have previously carried out raids in Syria to assist Assad, Kirby said there was currently no indication that the strikes on the Aleppo hospital were carried out with Russian backing. However, he noted that Moscow still had influence over Assad.

“What’s curious and what we’d like to know more is to what degree are they actually assertively, aggressively using that influence right now because on the face of it … it would appear that influence isn’t being asserted as energetically as we believe it could be,” Kirby added. He noted that the cessation of hostilities was “very much in peril” due to the military escalation in Aleppo, and called on Moscow to pressure Assad to stop the attacks.

Nearly a week of airstrikes and rebel shelling have killed 200 people in Aleppo, where both government and rebel forces have a foothold, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The majority of the fatalities are said to be on the opposition side.

Jan Egeland, chairman of the UN’s Task Force on Humanitarian Access in Syria, said Aleppo has suffered a “catastrophic deterioration” within the past 24 to 48 hours. “I could not in any way express how high the stakes are for the next hours and days,” he emphasized.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura called on the U.S. and Russia to work to save the ceasefire, saying it was “barely alive.”

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 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 UN 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 UNSC resolution 2254 also calls 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 Iran’s 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 savvy regime refuses to compromise, excels at stalling, and relies on both Iran, its “insurance card,” and Russia for support.

[Photo: Anadolu]

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