AANES health bodies call for intl. action over attacks on hospital in Aleppo
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said on Saturday that the ongoing shelling of Khaled Fajr Hospital in the Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo city, northwestern Syria, constitutes a war crime, describing the facility as a civilian medical center protected under international law.
In a statement, the AANES warned that continued attacks would worsen the humanitarian and health crisis, deprive civilians of their right to medical care, increase the number of casualties, and spread fear and panic among residents.
The AANES called on international powers, the United Nations, and humanitarian and human rights organizations to intervene immediately to halt the shelling, ensure full protection for the hospital and medical facilities, and guarantee that medical staff can continue their work without obstruction.
In a related statement, Doctors Union and health councils in northeastern Syria urged international actors and guarantors of agreements to take immediate action to stop the attacks on the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo and protect civilians.
Doctors Union in northeast Syria, along with the AANES’ Health Board, said they are calling on the international community and the UN Security Council to uphold their moral and legal responsibilities to protect civilians, enforce respect for international humanitarian law, and hold those responsible accountable.
The statement also appealed to international and humanitarian organizations—particularly the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Médecins Sans Frontières—to exert urgent efforts to establish safe corridors that would allow the entry of medical supplies, the evacuation of the wounded, and the provision of emergency support.
The health bodies condemned what they described as a “serious and unjustified military escalation” by forces of the Syrian transitional government against residential neighborhoods, calling for immediate and serious international action to stop what they termed a war on the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods in Aleppo.
They warned that the situation in both neighborhoods is rapidly turning into a major humanitarian and health disaster, noting that attacks have systematically targeted the healthcare system. Hospitals and medical centers have been directly hit and rendered inoperable, while a tight siege has prevented the entry of medicines and medical and emergency supplies, severely hindering ambulance teams’ ability to evacuate the wounded. Medical supplies, they said, have been completely depleted.
The statement concluded that what is unfolding in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh amounts to a war crime by all standards, holding the Syrian transitional government and its allies fully responsible for the violations and their far-reaching consequences for the region.