Ukraine rebels attacking medics

Pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine are hampering the treatment of a growing number of civilian casualties by threatening doctors, hijacking ambulances and looting medical equipment, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. ‘Pro-Russian insurgents' attacks on medical units and personnel are putting sick and vulnerable people and those who care for them at risk,’ Yulia Gorbunova, Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. ‘This appalling disregard of people who are sick or wounded can be deadly and needs to stop immediately.’ The New York-based rights group said it had documented insurgents hijacking ambulances to transport fighters, coercing medics and expropriating equipment in what could constitute war crimes in Ukraine's civil conflict. Medical services were not only suffering at the hands of the rebels: at least two medics have been killed as rockets or mortars likely fired from government positions hit five hospitals in rebel-held territory, HRW said, according to AFP.