The health personnel in the border districts of Hatay province said the ISIS gangs are brought to the hospitals from a camp located in Altınözü district and that they do not want to serve for the bloody ISIS members anymore, complaining about lack of security in their workplaces.

The health personnel affiliated to Urgent Health Services Coordination (ASKOM) of Hatay have said wounded ISIS members are brought to emergency departments of the hospitals in the border districts, primarily to Hayat Public Hospital and Mustafa Kemal University Training and Research Hospital, stressing that some of the gang members come to the hospital with weapons in their hands. They added that most of the wounded come from a camp in Kuyubaşı village of Altinözü district.

A health worker affiliated to ASKOM, who demanded anonymity for security reasons, said there is a camp of the gangs outside the state run AFAD camp in the district and that no one, including the Turkish soldiers, is allowed to enter to the camp outside which Turkish soldiers wait to ensure the security. The health worker said they are frequently called to go to that camp to take the wounded to the hospitals under the supervision of the Turkish soldiers, adding that the wounded are mostly from the gangs fighting in Syria.

The worker furthermore said that since the beginning of the civil war in Syria, many wounded came to the hospitals in Altinözü, Reyhanlı, Yayladağı and Kırıkhan districts of Hatay, adding that all of them were called “rebels”. The person added that they do not serve to those who are in critical situation, but the health personnel sent from Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir provide the treatment, adding that they are very much uncomfortable with the situation. The worker said that the health personnel in the districts now refused to provide treatment for the gang members as they did not have any security of life.

Another health worker from Mustafa Kemal University Training and Research Hospital, who does not want to give her name either, said that recently a gang member from Syria was taken to the hospital from the camp in Altınözü. “A bomb in his pocket fell down on the ground in the hospital” she said, adding that the hospital administration and the police did not do anything regarding the incident despite the fact that they were officially informed. The nurse said the life security of hundreds of ill people in the hospitals is put under danger by these gang members.

She went on saying that the health personnel of the hospital shared their concerns with the hospital administration, who only told them “Do not do anything that will harm our hospital”. She also said they carried the issue to ASKOM meeting, where the administration told them that they are not allowed to search the wounded.