BEIRUT: UN officials say some 100,000 people are “trapped” in rural areas of Syria’s northern Afrin district and need humanitarian aid after Turkish and allied Syrian forces drove out a Syrian Kurdish militia.
Spokeswoman Marixie Mercado of children’s agency UNICEF says it hasn’t been able to deliver health and nutrition supplies to the district in 20 days, and water trucks have stopped deliveries since Thursday.
UNICEF estimates 50,000 children are among those who need humanitarian aid in Afrin.
On Twitter, Syria country representative Sajjad Malik of the UN refugee agency wrote Tuesday that “looting, destruction of properties & exodus of civilians continues” in Afrin, and “100,000 civilians stay trapped inside in rural areas.”
Earlier, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, raised doubts about Turkish aid efforts in Afrin, saying “the credibility of the Turkish Red Crescent working in Afrin with the Kurdish population is close to zero.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Maurer’s statement was “far from truth and inacceptable.”
UN says 100,000 ‘trapped’ in Syria’s Afrin
UN says 100,000 ‘trapped’ in Syria’s Afrin
Syrian Democratic Forces withdraws from east of Aleppo
RIYADH: Syrian Democratic Forces have withdrawn from positions east of Aleppo, according to SDF head Mazloum Abdi.
He announced Friday that SDF will withdraw from east of Aleppo at 7 a.m. local time on Saturday and redeploy them to areas east of the Euphrates, citing calls from friendly countries and mediators.
Hours earlier, a US military designation had visited Deir Hafer and met with SDF officials in an apparent attempt to tamp down tensions.
The US has good relations with both sides and has urged calm. A spokesperson for the US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shortly before Abdi’s announcement, interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa had announced issuance of a decree strengthening Kurdish rights.
A wave of displacement
Earlier in the day, hundreds of people carrying their belongings arrived in government-held areas in northern Syria ahead of the anticipated offensive by Syrian troops on territory held by Kurdish-led fighters.
Many of the civilians who fled were seen using side roads to reach government-held areas because the main highway was blocked at a checkpoint in the town of Deir Hafer controlled by the SDF.
The Syrian army said late Wednesday that civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and then extended the evacuation period another day, saying the SDF had stopped civilians from leaving.
There had been limited exchanges of fire between the two sides in the area before that.
Men, women and children arrived on the government side of the line in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes, mattresses and other belongings. They were met by local officials who directed them to shelters.
* with input from Reuters, AP
