Recent Turkish airstrikes on North and East Syria have targeted a medical oxygen facility opened in 2022 with apparent support from the US development agency USAID, Meghan Bodette of the Washington-based Kurdish Peace Institute has noted.
It looks like the medical oxygen facility Turkey attacked today is this one, opened in 2022 by the Health Authority of Cizire with apparent support from @USAID.
From the opening: https://t.co/T7zQJcrEBahttps://t.co/0eT5qrteDr
After the attack: https://t.co/kZeGIDK6Q8 pic.twitter.com/xA0h1Nd8FU
— Meghan Bodette (@_____mjb) December 25, 2023
The researcher referenced a prior report by the regional ANHA news agency which noted the facility was operated by the Health Authority of Cizire, North and East Syria. The site was established at the Covid-19 Life Centre in Qamishli (Qamishlo) to address the medical oxygen needs of hospitals and healthcare centres in the region’s largest Kurdish-majority city. Capable of producing 300 oxygen cylinders daily, the facility was opened in the presence of representatives from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, the Kurdish Red Crescent, and the Council of Martyrs’ Families in Qamishli, with apparent support from USAID, or the US Agency for International Development. It aimed to provide free oxygen to public hospitals and offer it at a reduced rate to private entities.
On 25 December, unmanned Turkish aircraft and armed drones targeted the facility, rendering it out of service. Located near the paediatric hospital in eastern Qamishli, it was the area’s sole medical oxygen facility.
The Turkish state’s aggressive campaign in the region has involved bombings of essential service centres and commercial areas in Qamishli and Kobani. These attacks have resulted in eight fatalities and 13 injuries across both cities.
