28 June 2018
Syria war: Air strikes knock out hospitals in Deraa
Air strikes have reportedly put three hospitals out of service in rebel-held south-western Syria, as pro-government forces press on with a major offensive.
A medical charity and a monitoring group said the facilities in the towns of Saida, Jizah and Musayfira, east of the city of Deraa, were hit overnight.
The strikes came as the army made gains in the region, which borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Up to 50,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in the past week.
The provinces of Deraa and Quneitra had been relatively calm for almost a year because of a "de-escalation" agreement brokered by the US and Jordan, which support the opposition, and Russia, a key ally of the government.
However, President Bashar al-Assad set his sights on retaking them after defeating rebels in the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus in April.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the hospital in Saida was put out of service after unidentified aircraft bombed the town after midnight.
Warplanes identified as Russian then hit the hospital in Musayfira, damaging it and forcing it to close, the UK-based monitoring group said. Later, the hospital in Jizah was damaged by Russian air strikes nearby, it added.
Ahmed al-Dbis of the medical charity Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, which supports hospitals in rebel-held Syria, told Reuters news agency that the strikes had caused "material damage" to the hospitals.
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