Man shot in left knee by sniper while bringing bread to family

Description

In a visit to a field hospital in Idlib governorate on 30 August, I (a nurse with experience in critical care and with victims of gunshot wounds) spoke with an injured man in his 20s with an injury to his left knee. He reported being shot by a government sniper in Salaheddine area of Aleppo while carrying bread to his family before the Iftar meal two days before. The wound to his knee had been treated surgically at this field hospital and was highly consistent with a through-and-through gunshot wound with a high powered weapon. The story that the man was unarmed at the time of his injury was supported by the following: A photojournalist who was present in the room asked to take a picture of the wound and to have a weapon included in the frame of the picture. An leader of a rebel fighting group explained that it would not be appropriate for this man's injury to photographed with a weapon as the injury had been sustained while the man was in noncombatant role. Had he been engaged in fighting at the time of his injury, however, it would be appropriate to be photographed with a weapon.