KIEV/BEIRUT, 15 FEB 2016 – A major offensive supported by Russian bombing and Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey’s border.
At least 14 civilians were killed in the Syrian town of Azaz, the last rebel stronghold before the border with Turkey, when missiles hit a children’s hospital and a school sheltering refugees fleeing the Syrian army offensive, a medic and two residents said.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a Russian missile had hit the buildings and that many civilians including children had been killed.
Major powers agreed in Munich on Friday to a cessation of hostilities in Syria, but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties.
At a press conference in Kiev, Davutoglu doubted Russia’s commitment to any such deal, pointing to comments from Moscow that it would continue its air strikes regardless. Russia, Davutoglu said, had a clear objective:
“They want to have just two options in front of the international community: Daesh or Assad,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
Tens of thousands have fled to Azaz from towns and villages where there is heavy fighting between the Syrian army and militias.
“We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital,” said medic Juma Rahal, following the missile strikes. At least two children were killed and ambulances ferried scores of injured people to Turkey for treatment, he said.
French charity Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) meanwhile said seven people were killed and at least eight staff were missing after missiles hit a hospital in the province of Idlib, west of Aleppo, in a separate incident.
“The author of the strike is clearly … either the government or Russia,” MSF president Mego Terzian said.

Source : REUTERS, 15 FEB 2016
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