The Aleppo neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsood lost its last remaining senior medic on when a Katyushka rocket was fired from the Kafr Hamra area dominated by US-backed opposition rebel forces reports RT’s Lizzie Phelan.
"He died because they called him and told him there was shelling and some people were in the medical center who needed his help, so he went to try and save their lives, and he was killed,” explained the surgeon’s wife. “He was always helping people."
The attack comes amid a cessation of hostilities plan formalized between the United States and Russia that would call for joint airstrikes by the two superpowers to destroy and degrade both Daesh (ISIS) and former al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front (or Jabhat Fateh al-Sham).
The attack that left the medic dead is yet another eerie reminder of bloodshed on all sides with the city of Aleppo stuck in the heart of the humanitarian crisis that has led to a record number of refugees and displaced people wreaking havoc throughout the region and the world.
US-backed rebel forces control the eastern portion of the city of Aleppo with the Americans providing weapons, support and airstrikes in collaboration with their mission. However, in breaking the siege of the area set by the Assad regime, the so-called moderate rebels pooled together with al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate) under the umbrella group The Army of Conquest.
Western Aleppo and surrounding areas are controlled by the Assad government which is supported by Russian airstrikes in a bid to stabilize the security situation in the country in order to focus energy on Daesh and al-Nusra terrorists while the Obama administration has been adamant that the ouster of Assad is a predicate for peace – something Russia worries will leave the country to descend into further chaos worse than the violence and destruction ravaged in Libya after the ouster of Gadhafi.
The loss of Dr. Shahed, a fearless humanitarian, paints the ominous reality that there are positive forces on each side of the battle which has too often left civilians stuck between several opposing forces with mixed alliances.
"Wherever he worked and whomever he met, people loved him. Since he died I got so many calls from the doctor’s union in Aleppo who all spoke about what a great doctor my husband was," said Dr. Shahed’s wife. "He was my whole life. I feel empty without him… I can’t tell you the sorrow I feel from losing him, he was my husband and my whole family, and I wish I… died in his place."
Shahed’s teenage son Rashid left in tears next to his mother said, "I am so proud that I am the son of a martyr. I thank everyone… with us and who are helping us. I am so proud, I can’t talk."
"I will carry out my father’s will and become a doctor and if God allows me I will be an even better doctor than my father," said Rashid.
