A/HRC/44/61 including one doctor, five women and five children, were killed, and 30 to 65 others were injured. 41. On 4 February, two consecutive air strikes hit a medical dispensary and adjacent hospital in Sarmin, causing significant damage to both facilities, rendering both nonoperational. Though some residents had departed earlier, most civilians, including medical staff, left Sarmin following the attacks. 42. On 23 February, the dentistry building adjacent to the maternity and children’s hospital in Baloyun, Idlib Governorate, was hit in an air strike that destroyed parts of the building, rendering it non-operational. On 25 February, an air strike struck near the Idlib surgical hospital, located some 500 metres from al-Barahim school (see paras. 48–58), causing damage to the facility and injuring at least three members of the medical staff. 43. While vying for control in western Aleppo, pro-Government forces intensified attacks on medical facilities, in an apparent effort to erode the viability of the last functioning medical facilities in Atarib and its environs. The Commission investigated five such incidents in Aleppo. 44. On 1 February, at around 10 p.m., pro-Government forces carried out two air strikes in the span of 10 minutes, against the al-Huda surgical hospital in al-Hour village, damaging the entrance of the hospital and a generator, and injuring one of the guards. The hospital, which is the main health-care provider in the western and northern parts of rural Aleppo, was subsequently rendered non-operational. 45. On 10 February, at around 8 p.m., pro-Government forces carried out an aerial attack on Atarib maternity and children’s hospital, killing a 17-year-old boy and causing damage to the facility. 46. On 17 February, at around 11.40 a.m., pro-Government forces launched two consecutive air strikes that struck Kinana and nearby al-Fardous maternity hospitals in Darat Azza. At least two medical staff were injured and both facilities were rendered out of service, leaving residents with no other operational hospital in western Aleppo. 47. As medical facilities in towns and villages along the M5 axis were rendered nonoperational, pro-Government forces continued attacks on adjacent localities, with minimized opportunities for the wounded and sick to seek and receive treatment in their immediate areas of residence. D. Attacks affecting educational facilities 48. Attacks on schools have emerged as one of the most vicious patterns in the Syrian conflict.29 According to the Humanitarian Needs Assessment Programme for the Syrian Arab Republic, hostilities adversely affected educational institutions throughout Idlib and western Aleppo, where just under half of civilians are children under the age of 15. At least 58 educational facilities in Idlib and western Aleppo were reported damaged during the period, 55 during attacks launched by pro-Government forces. 49. The Commission investigated 12 such attacks in Idlib. 50. In Sarmin on 1 January, a ground attack by Government forces consisting of cluster munitions hit the Abdo Salam primary school, killing 12 civilians, including five children and one female teacher. 51. Seven educational facilities were hit on 24 and 25 February alone. Teachers interviewed by the Commission reported that the attacks commenced in the late evening hours of 24 February, when two munitions struck the yard of al-Houraya high school for girls in Idlib, causing damage to the facility and to nearby residential homes. 29 A/HRC/21/50, paras. 116–124; A/HRC/27/60, paras. 84–94; A/HRC/28/69, para. 68; A/HRC/33/55, paras. 111–124; A/HRC/34/64, paras. 48–50; and A/HRC/37/72, para. 76. See also www.refworld.org/docid/58c80d884.html. 9