Un hombre herido se prepara para ser transportado de Kilos a Gaziantep. The Turkish city of Kilis has seen its population explode from 90, to at least , people over the past four years, as Syrians fleeing the civil war in their homeland have streamed across the border 6 miles away. But thousands more Syrians remain trapped in makeshift camps at the frontier, with Turkey today only allowing ambulances and limited numbers of people through the crossing.
Last month, VICE News traveled to Kilis to visit the people living in the camps, whose numbers have swelled since Russian airstrikes began in September. While the visit was scheduled amid rumors Turkey would open its border to allow thousands more refugees into the country, those plans were interrupted by news on February 15 that two hospitals and a school in the nearby Syrian city of Azaz had become the latest civilian facilities to be devastated by airstrikes.
While it was difficult to verify who was responsible for the assaults, a Turkish security official said Azaz had been struck by Russian missiles.
In the wake of the strikes, VICE News witnessed the chaos at the border, as Turkish ambulances waited to transport scores of arriving Syrian wounded to hospitals. Journalists in Kilis said hospital guards who would usually keep them out of the building were too busy carrying the injured to prevent reporters witnessing the turmoil inside. With the main hospital unprepared for the carnage and quickly overcrowded, the most gravely injured were moved to the nearest big city of Gaziantep, 26 miles away.
The flow of victims continued for two days, with many who had sustained injuries not deemed life-threatening forced to wait until February 17 to be treated. He was showing his brother Mohammed pictures he had captured on his mobile phone during and after the airstrike. As he smoked nervously, Osman swiped through picture after picture of the dead. Each one was a member of his extended family. Since the Russians have started bombing they don't care what they hit, but we thought no one would bomb a school.
