Dr Zaidoun Zoabi, leading aid efforts in northwest Syria, has issued an emotional appeal for the international community to end the “bloody, stupid war”.
In an interview with CNN, Dr Zaidoun al-Zoabi broke down as he explained that his team has not slept in four days amid the regime-Russian-Iranian offensive in Aleppo Province.
Zoabi is the head of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations, which runs more than a dozen field hospitals. He said from Gazientep in southern Turkey:
We can’t provide enough food, we can’t provide enough medicine, we can’t provide shelter. Even if we can do so for a small proportion, we can’t take it alone. You can see it in our faces, we haven’t slept in days now. It’s beyond our capacity, we can’t take it any more.
What have we done to endure such a bloody, stupid war? It is enough for us, we are so tired. So helpless. [Crying] I’m sorry but I can’t help it, we are just about to collapse.
“Please end this war, do something to end this war.
Zoabi said on Monday that the Union believes at least 70,000 people have fled the latest fighting, with the launch of the regime offensive on Friday, south of Aleppo city:
We saw only people who do not have even tents, any shelter, whatever,” he said. “People were asking for some food, sandwiches even. There is no medical support.
The shelling is so fierce. The sky was filled with jet fighters, with helicopters, and people are terribly scared. They are scared to death.
