Airstrikes Target Five Clinics in Aleppo Province

Airstrikes hit four medical clinics in opposition-held Aleppo, and another in the nearby town of Atareb over the weekend, the Associated Press reported.

At least five people, including an infant, were killed in the intensified airstrikes that began Saturday night. A blood bank was also reportedly targeted in air raids by the Syrian government and Russia.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said all five facilities were now out of service. One of the facilities, Al-Bayan Hospital, was hit by more than one airstrike. The same hospital was targeted by airstrikes last month, leaving at least 10 dead.

As of May 2016 there had been 373 attacks on medical facilities and 750 healthcare workers had been killed, according to Physicians for Human Rights (PHR): 698 of the healthcare workers were killed in attacks carried out by Syrian government forces and Russia.

Opposition-held eastern Aleppo city has been under siege since July 7 when forces allied with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad advanced and cut off all access to the Castello Road, the only supply route into the area.

The United Nations called on Friday for local truces to allow for aid deliveries, warning that the 300,000 people in the rebel-held part of the city no longer have access for food or medicine supplies. Just two weeks into the siege and residents are already reporting food and fuel shortages.

An activist in Aleppo told the A.P. that another air raid on Sunday struck a storage house containing 10,000 food baskets that had been put aside to use in case people ran out of food.

Rebel Rockets Hit Damascus

Rebels fired rockets on central Damascus late Sunday night, killing at least eight people and injuring 20, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The rockets hit several neighborhoods in the old Damascus district, in an incident that the Syrian state-run news agency, SANA, described as a “terrorist attack.” Rebels in Damascus province maintain control of parts of the suburbs surrounding the capital.

An Agence France-Presse correspondent in Damascus said he saw bloodied people running and calling for help after the rocket attack. A photo circulated on social media depicted destruction from the attack in a restaurant, showing blood on the floor and overturned chairs.

U.S. Proposal for Partnership With Russia Faces Skepticism

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposal for a new military partnership with Russia in Syria is facing skepticism within the U.S. government and abroad, according to Reuters.

The recent proposal calls for U.S.-Russian military and intelligence cooperation in Syria that would target the al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. In return, Russia would have to pressure its ally, the Syrian government, to stop targeting U.S.-backed rebels with airstrikes.

However, several U.S. military and intelligence officials have said the proposal is naive, Reuters reported. The report added that certain European members in the anti-ISIS coalition and the main Syrian opposition group are also skeptical of the proposal.

The proposal has “two basic problems that Kerry seems to be ignoring,” a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. “One: The Russians’ aim in Syria is still either keeping Assad in power or finding some successor who is acceptable to them … And two: Putin has proved over and over again, and not just in Syria, that he cannot be trusted to honor any agreement he makes if he decides it’s no longer in Russia’s interest.”

Other critics pointed out that the current proposal would still allow Syria and Russia to use ground troops and artillery against U.S.-backed rebels fighting the Syrian government.

The State Department said the proposed cooperation is the best opportunity to limit both the fighting and the number of refugees fleeing Syria toward Europe, while still maintaining a political track for negotiations.

Recommended Reads:

• Reuters: German Military Training 100 Syrian Migrants in Pilot Project
• The Economist: Erdogan’s Counter-Coup Weakens the Syrian Rebels
• Middle East Eye: Aleppo on Brink of Starving and Overwhelmed by Shelling: Aid Groups
• The Daily Beast: The Anti-Imperialism of Fools
• AlMonitor: After Approving Constitution, What’s Next for Syria’s Kurds?