Bashar al-Assad sees Trump as ‘natural ally’ as Syrian and Russian strikes batter Aleppo hospital
Aleppo has been divided between rebel and government control since 2012 along one of the most intractable front lines of the civil war
Air strikes hammered rebel-held zones in Syria’s besieged Aleppo on Wednesday, badly damaging a children’s hospital as staff members and patients huddled in a basement, doctors said.
The attacks came a day after Syrian government forces and their Russian allies resumed offensives across northern Syria, including Russian cruise missile strikes from a warship in the Mediterranean. Syrian forces, meanwhile, launched heavy bombardment in rebel-controlled eastern Aleppo in an attempt to break one of the last urban strongholds of the opposition.
The planes are up above. We can’t get out. Maybe we can protect ourselves in this room
Loss of the rebel footholds in Aleppo would be a major blow to armed factions and others fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It could also hasten the fall of their remaining strongholds across the country.
Staff at the children’s facility in Aleppo’s al-Shaar neighborhood said they were hiding in the basement, counting the bombs above their heads. The young patients and their parents cowered alongside in one of the few hospitals still operating in rebel-held parts of Aleppo.
East Aleppo’s central blood bank, located near the hospital, also was hit in the raids, residents said.
Russia said Tuesday that it had launched a major offensive against rebel-held areas in Idlib and Homs provinces, but denied involvement in the new attacks on Aleppo.
Assad, for his part, insists his forces were fighting to liberate civilians from “terrorists”. Assad also identified US President-elect Donald Trump as a possible “natural ally”, if he turned out to be “genuine” about his commitment to fighting terror in Syria.