BALADI NEWS
The United Nations humanitarian coordinator said on June 25 that he had asked Russia to provide details on how it was using the location coordinates of hospitals in Syria following a string of attacks on health-care facilities, Radio Free Europe news outlet reported.
Coordinates of medical facilities are shared via the UN to the warring parties in Syria under a humanitarian deconfliction system with the aim of protecting them from attack.
Despite this mechanism, more than 23 hospitals have been hit by strikes since Russia-backed Syrian regime forces launched an offensive in the northwestern province of Idlib in late April, according to the UN.
Russia, which has given crucial support to Bashar al-Assad throughout the conflict, has denied that the bombing campaign has targeted hospitals.
"I have written to the Russian Federation to request information as to how the details provided through the deconfliction mechanism are used," Mark Lowcock, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council.
In remarks via video link, Lowcock said he was "not sure" the system was fulfilling its role.
David Lillie, the executive director of the Syrian American Medical Society, told the council that doctors no longer trust the humanitarian deconfliction system, and urged an investigation into the attacks.
"They have fulfilled their part of the agreement at great risk to themselves, can this council not meet them halfway?" Lillie said.
Source: Radio Free Europe.