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Air Raids Hit Red Crescent Offices in Syria | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A view shows the damage at a Syrian Arab Red Crescent centre after it was hit at dawn by an airstrike in the rebel-held Idlib City, Syria February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah


Air strikes hit Syrian Red Crescent offices in the northwestern city of Idlib after midnight on Wednesday, injuring several staff and causing extensive damage, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Among those wounded in Wednesday’s raid was the director of the local Red Crescent branch, the Observatory said.

It was not clear which air force the jets belonged to or whether they had taken off from inside Syria or crossed its borders, the British-based Observatory said.

However, the President of Turkish Red Crescent Kerem Kinik accused in a tweet the U.S.-led coalition warplanes of targeting the Red Crescent’s HQ in Syria’s Idlib.

“We strongly condemn hideous air attack led by U.S. coalition on Idlib Red Crescent HQ. It’s clear war crime and IHL(international humanitarian law) violation,” Kinik said.

Russian and Syrian warplanes have been carrying out raids against Syrian rebels in Idlib province, a rebel stronghold, but since the new year U.S. air strikes have targeted militants in Idlib formerly affiliated to terror group al Qaeda.