Idlib – North-Press Agency
Baraa Darwish
Recent raids by the Syrian and Russian fighter jets on the city of Jisr al-Shughur in the western countryside of Idlib governorate caused had caused many human casualties and grave material damage which led the city’s local council to declare it as “devastated city”.
One of the most prominent material damages that the city witnessed in the air attacks, which continued for four consecutive days, was the Hospital of Jisr al-Shughour, as it was the only hospital in the city that covered the needs of tens of thousands of residents and IDPs in the city and its countryside.
The destruction of the city has led the local council in Jisr al-Shughour to declare it as a devastated city, where it was left without a hospital that would provide medical and pathological cases as well as emergency services, as it was covering the needs of about 75,000 people.
Mahmoud Abu al-Fadil, a resident of the city, told North-Press that the shelling lasted for four days, causing a large displacement wave of residents and IDPs in the city, in addition, the hospital went out of service and the movement of markets were paralyzed due to fears of re-escalation at any moment.
Meanwhile, the head of the local council of Jisr al-Shughur Ismail Hasnawi told North-Press that the city was targeted by more than 15 missiles, which targeted the market and other residential neighborhoods, and the only hospital in the city and its nearby countryside.
Hasnawi confirmed that the local council of the city declared it a devastated city, following the great wave of displacement of more than 20,000 people out of the city, while many of those who remained did not have the fees of transportation which was demanded by truck drivers to move them into IDPs camps in other areas”.
Furthermore, the head of local counsel talked about the death and injury of dozens of people in the city, as many of the wounded and patients were moved from Jisr al-Shughour Hospital to other hospitals in the area, pointing to the destruction of more than 30% of the residential buildings. While no aids were offered for the IDPs, as he said.
Amid the destruction, shelling, and the lack of support, the people of Idlib remain scattered between their devastated and destroyed cities and displacement camps, which no longer accommodate more IDPs, after tens of thousands of families have displaced upon the ongoing escalation since late April 2019.