WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, released the following statement Thursday after a Doctors Without Borders-supported hospital in Aleppo, Syria was bombed, killing dozens. There were many injuries and the death toll was likely to rise:
“Today’s bombing and killing of dozens of innocent civilians at a Doctors Without Borders-supported hospital in Aleppo is the clearest sign yet that the Assad regime and its Russian allies have no intention of adhering to the already-imperiled cessation of hostilities. I am deeply saddened for the families of the victims, among them one of the last known pediatricians in the city.
“More broadly, the attack is part of a troubling pattern of bombings and other violent attacks on schools, hospitals, places of worship, and other civilian sites in conflict zones around the world. Medical clinics and ambulances have been looted and destroyed as a tactic of warfare, and health care workers, teachers, and humanitarian workers – who put their lives in jeopardy to alleviate suffering and ensure some semblance of dignity for innocent people every day worldwide – have been kidnapped and killed. When all parties to a conflict do not adhere to or willfully ignore the standards of international humanitarian law and human rights, the resulting consequences mean the difference between life and death for innocent people.
“The international community must stand united against such atrocities and demand accountability, and call on the Syrian government and its backers to immediately commit to the cessation of hostilities and pursue a nonviolent pathway to a new day for Syria.”
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