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Aleppo: Eyewitness describes aftermath of hospital attack

Posted at 7:10 AM, Nov 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-21 07:10:49-05

In every corridor, every corner of the Omar Hospital in Aleppo, there are scenes of horror.

Decapitated bodies on the hospital’s floor, children with bloodied faces, screaming mothers searching for their families under the rubble — these were some of images that one medic described to CNN after a hospital in eastern Aleppo was attacked Saturday.

“Whatever I say I will not be able to describe the horror I am seeing,” Aref al-Aref, who filmed the aftermath of the shelling, said.

On Sunday, Syrian regime forces pounded the rebel-held areas in and around the city of Aleppo with airstrikes and artillery shelling, according to Syria Civil Defense, killing 32 people and bringing the total death toll in a week-long bombardment campaign to over 300.

Rescuers claim that hospitals in eastern Aleppo have been the primary target of the bombardment, which they describe as the most intense since the war began five years ago.

As of Sunday evening, one hospital was functional in eastern Aleppo, scrambling with the influx of hundreds of injured, activists told CNN. They did not reveal its name or location over fears that it would be hit.

“People were in need of surgeries but there are no rooms to operate in,” Al-Aref told CNN.

“A lot of people in need of hospitalization are having to stay at home because there is no space.”

Aleppo Media Center activists said that hospitals were running out of medicine and the civil defense was short of body bags and shrouds to wrap the corpses in.

The shelling began last Tuesday after a three-week lull.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the assault and “indiscriminate shelling” for killing and maiming scores of civilians, including children, and for leaving eastern Aleppo without functioning hospitals.

“The secretary-general reminds all parties to the conflict that targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime,” the statement said.

“Those responsible for these and other atrocities in Syria, whoever and wherever they are, must one day be brought to account.”