Baladi News
A study published on Wednesday by "The Lancet" medical journal reported that more than 800 medical personnel working in Syria have been killed since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution against Assad's regime in 2011. The personnel were killed in "war crimes" that included bombing hospitals, shootings, torture and execution at the hands of Assad regime, according to "AFP" news agency.
The study confirmed that most of the killings were committed by pro-regime forces, accusing the regime and its Russian ally of frequently targeting the facilities and the medical cadres within the framework of a strategy to turn these targets into a weapon of war.
The study mentioned that Assad's regime and Moscow have deliberately intensified their bombardment on the medical facilities in 2016, which made it the most dangerous year for the workers in the health sector in Syria, according to the Dr.Samer Jabour, a professor at the American University in Beirut and one of the writers of the study.
The study also said that the unprecedented targeting of medical cadres by regime forces and their allies was strategical and resulted in killing hundreds of health workers, arresting and torturing hundreds more, and attacking hundreds of medical facilities in a deliberate and organized way.
The study stated that the number of the attacks on the medical facilities has raised from 91 in 2012 to reach 199 in 2016, explaining that 94% of those attacks were launched by the Syrian regime and its allies including Russia.