Syrian doctors in opposition districts of Aleppo have accused the United States of inaction in the face of repeated atrocities in the devastated city.
In a heart-wrenching letter addressed to US President Barack Obama, 15 of the 35 doctors in eastern neighborhoods of Syria’s second city warned the situation would be desperate for civilians if regime forces re-impose a siege.
On Saturday, rebels and allied jihadists broke a three-week government encirclement that had left residents of eastern Aleppo reeling from skyrocketing prices and food shortages. But the pediatricians, surgeons, and other physicians who signed the letter said the situation remained dire.
“Unless a permanent lifeline to Aleppo is opened it will be only a matter of time until we are again surrounded by regime troops, hunger takes hold and hospitals’ supplies run completely dry.”
The letter lambasts the US, saying it had seen “no effort on behalf of the United States to lift the siege or even use its influence to push the parties to protect civilians.”
The World Health Organization said Syria was the most dangerous place for health care workers to operate last year, with 135 attacks on health facilities and workers in 2015. An estimated 250,000 people still live in the rebel-held eastern parts, with around 1.2 million in the government-controlled west.
