Syria Relief Chief Executive Officer, Othman Moqbel

Sadly, another attack by military actors on civilian life has occurred in Syria today. Al-Shifa hospital, in Afrin, has been attacked. We understand that the death toll is now at 19, 5 of whom are humanitarian aid workers.

Our prayers are with the victims, their loved ones and our colleagues and friends at SAMS, who manage the hospital, and Shafak, whom some of the aid workers killed were employed by.

For the second time this week, we are once again calling on military actors in this conflict to immediately cease the targeting of civilian life. Hospitals are not a legitimate military target. Aid workers are not a legitimate military target. Civilians are not a legitimate military target. Please, show some humanity.

If this happened anywhere else, it would be an outrage, but as it happened in Syria, it will be ignored because the world deems this “normal” behaviour. A tragedy compounded.