This image appears to show a fully-grown foetus with a bullet lodged in its skull (Picture: Syria Relief)

Armed fighters in Syria are shooting pregnant women in the stomach to kill their unborn babies, a British surgeon has claimed.

The militants working for the Assad regime are allegedly awarded with cigarettes if they ‘hit the correct targets’.

Dr David Nott, who has been volunteering in the war-torn country, described the deliberate attempts to hurt women as ‘hell beyond hell’. The snipers would target expectant mothers who support rebel forces.

The fighting continues in Syria. Here, rebel forces take cover after they are attacked by supporters of president Bashar al-Assad (Picture: Reuters/Mohamed Abdel Aziz)

X-ray images released by the Syria Relief charity appear to show a fully-grown foetus with a bullet lodged in its brain.


Dr Nott, a vascular specialist at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, told The Times: ‘The women were all shot through the uterus, so that must have been where they were aiming for. I can’t even begin to tell you how awful it was.



‘Usually, civilians are caught in the crossfire. This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this. This was deliberate. It was hell beyond hell.’

More than 100,000 civilians have died in the Syrian civil war, with more than one million people fleeing to neighbouring countries.