Syria: why bomb hospitals?

Beyond Today

BBC

News

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2019

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Eight years ago, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad began his brutal crackdown on opponents of his regime. Air strikes have long targeted hospitals, and in the last rebel stronghold of Idlib medics are being forced underground to survive. Waad Al-Kateab is a Syrian journalist who lived through this in the city of Aleppo. She filmed what it was like surviving as bombs rained down, living in her husband’s hospital and bringing her daughter, Sama, into a war-torn world. Now, with co-director Ed Watts, she’s made a documentary called “For Sama”. They came into the Beyond Today studio to share her story, while the BBC's Middle East correspondent, Quentin Sommerville, explains why this war crime is still happening. “For Sama” is now in cinemas nationwide and will be broadcast on Channel 4 in October. Thanks to Channel 4 News and ITN Productions for some of the audio featured in this episode. Producers: Harriet Noble and Seren Jones Mixed by Nico Raufast Editor: John Shields

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:04.6	Hello, I'm Matthew Price.
0:08.9	This is Beyond Today from BBC Radio 4.
0:11.6	Every day we ask one big question about one big story.
0:17.0	Today we're talking about the Syrian war. Why are they bombing hospitals?
0:27.0	We know who's going to win the Syrian war, President Assad.
0:35.0	For the last eight years his forces have been trying to crush a whole load of opponents.
0:39.0	A few years ago Russia sent its troops to help Assad and now the last holdout of rebels is slowly being bombed
0:47.6	into submission in the northwest of the country in a province called Idlib.
0:57.0	Among their key targets are hospitals. The BBC's Quentin Somerville has just uncovered fresh evidence of this in Idlib. He's going to tell us about his
1:06.2	discovery. But I wanted to start in another hospital with a young Syrian journalist
1:11.3	Wade Al Katib, who from the start was opposed to her said.
1:16.6	She lived in the rebel-held part of the city of Aleppo, and she filmed as the war came
1:21.2	to its hospitals. Bye.
1:24.2	No.
1:25.2	No.
1:26.2	It was normal day in Le Poer where we've just heard the ambulance car is coming so I took the
1:36.6	camera and ran down. There's two boys coming with their brother where it seems like he dead, but they didn't realize this or they don't know.
1:48.0	And then they've tried to do something for him as a doctor, but it was so clear that there's no hope of that it's like
1:56.7	he's already dead I was filming this and I was so shocked by the other two brothers how they were saying goodbye to their brother as adults.
2:09.0	They weren't even cry or scream in any way. They were so calm.
2:14.4	I should be able to food like beer.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.