CCTV has a new video from Sirte’s main hospital just after it was taken by NTC forces:
Two things to take from this video. First, most of the senior medical staff had fled, leaving nurses and medical students. Why? I can’t be sure, but it is likely that many of the senior staff had some connections to the Gaddafi regime (often the case in one-party autocracies) and feared reprisal. This flight has left the hospital lacking in a number of major specialties. Second, NTC fighters had and continue to violate medical neutrality by entering hospital grounds to detain patients suspected of being Gaddafi loyalist. This is not the first time I have heard these accusations. This is utterly unacceptable. More needs to be done to force the NTC to stop such practices amongst it’s fighters.
Christopher R. Albon is a political science Ph.D. specializing in armed conflict, public health, human security, and health diplomacy.
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