At 2:30 pm local time on Thursday 19 November, an aerial attack was launched on Erbin, one of the besieged zones to the east of Damascus, Syria. Half an hour later, at approximately 3:00pm, when seven wounded were arriving for urgent war-wound treatment, two missiles exploded just outside the entrance of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported makeshift hospital in the area.

Two people were killed, six more people were injured, bringing the total of wounded to 13 - including 2 medics who were trying to triage and provide first assistance – and damage was done to the hospital building and one ambulance. One of the medics needed life-saving open chest surgery, and the other had multiple fractures.

"The situation was chaotic,” says the director of Erbin hospital, who wishes to remain anonymous. “We were just starting to treat the first influx of wounded when suddenly other missiles hit in front of the hospital. It took us moment to realise that two of our colleagues who had been assisting the wounded at the entrance were severely injured. A dramatic situation suddenly became doubly dramatic.”

Yesterday, Friday 20 November, further intense bombing in Ein Terma neighbourhood, also in the East Ghouta besieged area, continued. An MSF-supported makeshift hospital in this area treated 17 war-wounded patients, and recorded six people dead on arrival.

“MSF is appalled that again a health structure and staff are targeted after responding to provide life-saving treatment to wounded victims of an indiscriminate bombing campaign,” says Brice de le Vingne, MSF Director of operations. “We feel the pain and despair of these medics, who are struggling with the odds so heavily stacked against them. Day after day, these doctors and nurses are working under siege and under bombs; they have very limited equipment, and are forced to work in converted makeshift buildings. With two talented medics very seriously wounded, the number of medics available for these communities that are under siege and under a torrent of bombs has shrunk even further these past days.”

MSF had recently provided to Erbin hospital, as part of its regular support programme, an anaesthesia kit, an Operating Theatre drugs kit, and a diarrhea-treatment kit. MSF’s support team will be urgently seeking to arrange resupply for any items that were damaged in the missile strike or that were consumed during the treatment of the wounded.