15 doctors in Syria send letter to Obama, pleading for help

A letter signed by 15 doctors working in Aleppo, Syria, has been sent to President Obama, begging him to do something to help the 250,000 citizens living there in deplorable conditions.

Fighting in the area has intensified, and the doctors say there have been 42 attacks in the past month against hospitals and medical clinics, warning that if the attacks continue at that rate, there might not be any left in a month, BBC News reports. The letter states that since the beginning of the civil war, "countless patients, friends, and colleagues [have] suffered violent, tormented deaths" while the "world has stood by and remarked how 'complicated' Syria is, while doing little to protect us." It also mentions that two weeks ago, an explosion cut the oxygen supply to incubators at a hospital, and four newborns suffocated.

In the letter, the doctors asked that Obama open a lifeline to Aleppo. "We do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers," the letter said, asking instead for concrete action.

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Russia, supporting the Syrian government, says starting Thursday it will suspend all military action for three hours a day so aid can get into Aleppo, but the United Nations says that's not enough time.

Editor's note: Due to incorrect information on a press release, this story originally misstated the number of signatories on the letter, and included an inaccurate quote from the letter. This has since been corrected. We regret the error.