Aleppo's largest hospital 'completely destroyed' in air attacks

The largest hospital in rebel-held parts of Syria's Aleppo was "completely destroyed" in air strikes on Monday, the medical organisation that supports it said.

The M10 hospital was "completely destroyed... It is gone," said Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), adding that three maintenance workers were killed in the air strikes.

Activists on the ground have updated the death toll to say that seven were killed, including two technicians from the staff who were badly injured. 

Sahloul told Middle East Eye that the American NGO suspected that "bunker buster" bombs were being used against the medical facility. 

"The hospital is now not usable at all. It is not salvageable, per reports from the staff and doctors there," Sahloul said.

He also said that the M10 hospital was targeted seven times in the last week. 

Doctors at M10 were afraid that its upper levels would collapse onto the underground floors, he said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group confirmed that the hospital was destroyed after "being directly targeted by air raids".

M10 was hit multiple times over the past week, sparking international outrage over indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure in battered rebel-held Aleppo.

Medical facilities run by SAMS have been regularly targeted by Syrian and Russian warplanes. 

Earlier this year Middle East Eye reported on how the M2 hospital was targeted by "illegal" vacuum bombs in east Aleppo. 

The top United Nations aid official said on Sunday that eastern Aleppo's health care system "is all but obliterated. Medical facilities are being hit one by one."

UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon last week describe the situation in Aleppo as resembling a "slaughter-house" after two hospitals were targeted by warplanes and artillery shells. 

Backed by Russian warplanes, Syria's army is pressing a ground offensive to retake rebel-held parts of the northern city.

A hospital dug 15 metres underground was also targeted earlier on Monday in the Idlib province and put out of service. 

The hospital was dug underground in a bid to evade air strikes from Syrian government and Russian warplanes. 

M10 is a hospital codename used by doctors in opposition-controlled territory in Aleppo for security reasons.