Hospital Reported Bombed: Charity Says Many Towns Afraid to Allow New Hospitals

SAMS: Locals Think Having a Hospital Will Make Them a Target

Rebels with the Free Syrian Army Southern Front have reported an incendiary bombing attack against a hospital in the rebel town of Daraya. The hospital was virtually destroyed, though it had been evacuated before the strike, and no casualties were reported.

This is the latest in a growing series of strikes against hospitals across Syria, and charity group the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) warns that this is creating a growing problem as they look to build new hospitals: a lot of communities just don’t want them.

SAMS officials warn that a lot of cities and villages are afraid that even having a hospital inside their municipality will make them a military target, and they reported that one militia group around Aleppo had explicitly barred them from the area over this concern.

SAMS reported that during July, some 43 different attacks on healthcare centers were reported, more than one every day. Such strikes include some stray shells hitting close to hospitals, but also a disturbing number of direct strikes on obviously protected medical facilities, a problem which appears to be growing so rapidly within Syria that hospitals themselves are seen to invite targets.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.