A/HRC/34/64 destroyed an ambulance and caused the hospital to suspend its services. The attack reportedly involved one bunker-buster bomb, cluster munitions and chlorine. Witnesses described a 20 metre-wide crater, which they believed had resulted from a bunker-buster bomb, and satellite imagery confirms a crater consistent with an aerial bomb. 3 The nature of other air strikes throughout Aleppo, including a later air strike affecting the M10, support witness claims that multiple types of munitions were employed in rapid succession. 35. Further allegations regarding the use of chemicals (likely chlorine) on 1 October are also supported by victim accounts. One ambulance worker described how he and others experienced difficulty breathing after a bomb with a “strong smell” was dropped. Others described seeing yellow powder, which is consistent with chlorine residue. Images of the aftermath show remnants of a PTAB-1M cluster munition carried by an RBK-500 cluster bomb containing 268 sub-munitions. The presence of an improvised air-delivered munition with a chemical payload strongly suggests that the attack was conducted by government forces. In addition to the war crime of intentionally targeting protected objects, the attack amounts to the war crime of indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population (see annex I, paras. 20-23). 36. On 3 October, the M10 sustained further damage occasioned by a near-miss of an aerial bomb. The hospital was still out of service as a consequence of the attack conducted on 1 October, though workers were already on-site making repairs. Between 2 and 3.30 p.m., a high-explosive munition hit the street of the hospital entrance, killing three maintenance workers and injuring four medical staff, and destroying the maternity ward. Eyewitnesses described a 20 metre-wide crater. Analysis of the primary crater indicated that a munition in the 500 to 1000 kg class or larger had likely been employed. When employed with a delay fuse, these bombs can produce large craters and extensive blast damage consistent with that observed at the site. 37. The M10 was hit for the fourth time on 14 October. At approximately 2 p.m., multiple unitary high-explosive aerial bombs struck the entrance of the hospital, severely burning two doctors and a pharmacist. A medical worker present at the time recalled that oxygen cylinders stored in the basement caught fire as a result of the strike. 38. Between July and November, Syrian or Russian forces launched a series of air strikes on a square in al-Shaar district, where al-Hakim paediatric hospital, al-Zahra women’s hospital, al-Bayan hospital, al-Daqaq clinic and the central blood bank were located. As the only children’s hospital in eastern Aleppo, multiple air strikes on al-Hakim hospital had a devastating impact on children’s access to health care. On 23 July, an air strike damaged the building and caused a power cut, that led to the death of four newborns in incubators. In an attempt to protect patients, the hospital was moved underground. Until this point, all hospitals in al-Shaar had been clearly marked, after which emblems were removed out of fear of being targeted. 39. On 30 September, at around 5.30 a.m., at least one air strike hit the vicinity of alHakim, destroying an ambulance and killing an ambulance driver. Another air strike on 16 November partially destroyed the hospital and killed 27 people in the area. Two days later, on 18 November, the hospital was struck again while patients of a suspected chlorine attack 3 See Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) satellite imagery analysis on the webpage of the Commission at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/IndependentInternationalCommission.aspx. 9