The World Today: Hospital bombed in Aleppo | Médecins Sans Frontières Australia

The World Today: Hospital bombed in Aleppo | Médecins Sans Frontières Australia

 

The World Today: Hospital bombed in Aleppo

Paul McPhun

 

Paul
McPhun, executive director of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without
Borders) Australia talks to ABC's The World Today program about the
bombing of a hospital supported by Médecins Sans Frontières in Aleppo,
Syria.

People walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an Aleppo air strike. © AFP: Ameer Alhalbi

“It’s
been a horrific night for our colleagues. They witnessed barrel bombs
exploding close to the hospital, and then they started to take in
patients. Shortly after as patients have gathered in the hospital and
were being treated, a barrel bomb exploded at the gates of the hospital
itself.”

“Medical facilities in urban settings, urban centres, civilian
populated areas are clearly being systematically targeted in Syria,
there’s absolutely no doubt about that. In 2015 alone, we have 94
attacks against 63 hospitals that we supported. In this year alone,
we’ve had 11 attacks against hospitals that we’ve supported. These are
just the hospitals we’re supporting, so clearly there’s no distinction
being made whatsoever between what should be protected under
International Humanitarian Law as a medical facility, and what would be a
legitimate target to attack in war.”