Syria: Hama hospitals 'closed after army attacks' Published duration 14 August 2011

image caption Hama came under a week-long assault from government troops after large protests

A doctor in the Syrian city of Hama has told the BBC that medical services there have been severely affected by recent government attacks.

The doctor, who cannot be named for his safety, said two hospitals were closed and one had been stormed by troops, injuring many of the medical staff.

Hama has come under heavy attack in President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on anti-government protests.

The army says it has now left the city but activists say the attacks continue.

Syria is facing growing international condemnation of the violence against its civilians, with the US calling for it to be politically and economically isolated.

On Saturday, US President Barack Obama held phone conversations with Saudi King Abdullah and British Prime Minister David Cameron in which they expressed their concern over the violence.

Medics hurt

Tanks and troops were deployed to Hama at the end of July, with the stated aim of restoring control after tens of thousands of people staged protests against Mr Assad's regime.

After its much-publicised military retreat last week, Damascus insists life there is now returning to normal, but activists say the demonstrations have continued along with the civilian deaths.

International journalists face severe restrictions to reporting in Syria, and it is hard to verify reports.

But the doctor in Hama said the city had two government hospitals - one a paediatric centre - where people would normally go in emergency cases.

"But people aren't going to the national hospital because the security forces are there and have killed some wounded people," he said.

Two of the city's private hospitals have been closed completely because of the extent of the damage from shelling, he said, while two more have been partially destroyed.

An intensive care unit and a large amount of medical equipment were destroyed by missiles at the al-Hourani hospital, he said.

"The security forces broke into the hospital, searching for weapons. Many of the hospital team were injured during that break-in."

At the city's largest hospital, a severe lack of blood supplies meant doctors could no longer carry out blood transfusions - they also lacked basic medicines such as antibiotics, he said.

The doctor said he believed as many as 2,000 people had been killed in the government assault on the city, but that many of the bodies could not be found because they were buried under buildings destroyed by missiles.

"Some bodies have been taken by the security forces and photographed to make them look like members of armed gangs," he said.

'Brutal reaction'

Mr Assad, who leads one of the most repressive countries in the Arab world, has blamed the unrest on "armed terrorists".

image caption The Syrian army invited the media to witness its withdrawal from Hama last week

He has made some concessions, including revoking an emergency law, and has promised to introduce political reforms, but his critics say these do not go far enough and mean nothing as long as people calling for democracy are killed.

The US has imposed sanctions on Damascus and Secretary of State Hillary has called for an international embargo on oil, gas and arms, saying giving economic or political support to Mr Assad was giving "comfort in his brutality".

The White House said that in their conversation on Saturday, Mr Obama and King Abdullah shared their "deep concerns about the Syrian government's use of violence against its citizens".

"They agreed that the Syrian regime's brutal campaign of violence against the Syrian people must end immediately," said the White House in a statement.

Downing Street meanwhile said Mr Cameron and Mr Obama had "expressed horror at the brutal reaction of the Syrian regime to legitimate protests, particularly during Ramadan," the Muslim holy month.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait have all recalled their ambassadors from Damascus while Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has described the methods used by the Syrian security forces as "unacceptable".