More than 700 doctors killed in Syria war: UN  

Geneva: Attacks on hospitals since Syria´s war broke out five years ago have left more than 700 doctors and medical workers dead, many of them in air strikes, UN investigators said Tuesday.

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria also condemned horrific violations by militants and voiced concern that Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants may have recruited hundreds of children into their ranks.

Commission chief Paulo Pinheiro told the UN Human Rights Council that widespread, targeted aerial attacks on hospitals and clinics across Syria "have resulted in scores of civilian deaths, including much-needed medical workers."

"More than 700 doctors and medical personnel have been killed in attacks on hospitals since the beginning of the conflict," he said.

Pinheiro, who was presenting the commission´s latest report to the council, said attacks on medical facilities and the deaths of so many medical professionals had made access to health care in the violence-wracked country extremely difficult -- and in some areas completely impossible.

"As civilian casualties mount, the number of medical facilities and staff decreases, limiting even further access to medical care," he said.

Pinheiro also denounced frequent attacks on other infrastructure essential to civilian life, such as markets, schools and bakeries.

"With each attack, terrorised survivors are left more vulnerable," he said, adding that "schools, hospitals, mosques, water stations ... are all being turned into rubble."

Since March 2011, Syria´s brutal conflict has left more than 280,000 people dead and forced half the population to flee their homes.

War broke out after President Bashar al-Assad´s regime unleashed a brutal crackdown against protesters demanding political change in Arab Spring-inspired protests.

It has since become a multi-front war between regime forces, militants and other groups with the civilian population caught in the crossfire.

The UN and rights groups have repeatedly called on all sides in the war to stop attacking civilian infrastructure including hospitals.

Pinheiro also said the commission was investigating allegations that the Al-Nusra Front "and other Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups have recruited hundreds of children under 15 in Idlib" in northwestern Syria.