Conjoined twins born in Syria war zone

Conjoined twins Moaz and Nawaz were born on July 23 in a part of Syria that has witnessed some of the war’s heaviest fighting.

The boys are joined at the chest with protruding intestines. The doctors feared they would not survive without urgent surgery which they were unable to provide, the Independent reported.

The brothers were transferred by ambulance to a children's hospital in nearby Damascus.

Syrian doctors had appealed to the World Health Organisation to help the twins saying they would die if they were unable to undergo a surgery, the BBC said.

In a letter on behalf of the Syrian American Medical Society, Dr Mohamad Katoub wrote that the hospital was undersupplied and “running out of options” after four years under a brutal siege. “The case of these miracle babies tells the tragic story about access to healthcare in Syria,” he told BBC.

Dr Katoub urged for speedy evacuation of the twins and their mother so that the option of surgically separating the twins could be explored.

The WHO, with the help of UN health agency, and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), safely transferred the boys to Damascus Children's Hospital in the capital, which is predominantly under the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, the Independent reported.