At least 17 people were killed in an air strike on a hospital in the Syrian city of Aleppo, the charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday.At least 14 patients and three doctors were killed in an air strike at the MSF-supported Al-Quds hospital, MSF said.MSF sources blamed the Syrian government or Russian war planes for the attack, but there was no official comment.Violence in Syria has intensified in recent days, despite a partial truce.The upsurge in violence comes amid reports that the Syrian army, backed by Russian air power, is gearing up for a major offensive in Aleppo.The escalation has threatened to derail the UN-brokered peace talks, which resumed last month.On Wednesday, the UN envoy to Syria urged the US and Russia to intervene "at the highest level" to save the talks.
"MSF-supported hospital in Aleppo destroyed, at least 14 patients and staff killed, toll expected to rise," MSF tweeted on Thursday.It said the hospital was well known locally and had been hit by a direct air strike on Wednesday."We condemn the destruction of the Al-Quds hospital, depriving people of essential healthcare," the charity added.An activist at the scene, Zuhair, said the buildings around the hospital were also hit."It was an air strike by two rockets, heavy rockets from [a] Russian air strike," he said.The civil defence agency, which is staffed by volunteers, said the hospital and surrounding buildings were hit by four consecutive air strikes.Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said among the killed was the city's last paediatrician Mohammed Wasim Moaz, 36.