ADANA: The World Health Organization (WHO) will support Ankara in its response to massive earthquakes that killed more than 50,000, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday, as the death toll from the latest aftershock rose to two.
The massive earthquakes that struck Turkiye’s southeast and neighboring Syria in the last three weeks have injured more than 108,000 in Turkiye, leaving millions sheltering in tents or seeking to move to other cities.
The latest substantial aftershock, with a magnitude of 5.6, hit on Monday, killing two and injuring 140 people, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said, adding that 32 people had been rescued from the rubble.
Turkiye is “doing its best” but still needs international support to help the victims of the earthquake, Tedros said, describing the destruction as “really massive” for modern history.
In a news conference alongside Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca in Antakya, one of the most affected cities, Tedros said the two had discussed the health situation in camps.
“These are like respiratory infections, GI infections, especially mental health problems — because many people are really traumatized — and people who need rehabilitation services, especially orthopaedic service,” he said.
“From WHO side, we will support in any way possible based on the issues observed or documented and based on the priorities of the ministry,” Tedros added.
More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkiye by the disaster, the worst in the country’s modern history.
President Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild homes within a year but it will still be many months before thousands can leave tents or shipping containers and daily queues for food and move into permanent housing, key to gaining the sense of normalcy and safety they lost.
The earthquakes have struck months ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled to be held by June, which present the biggest political challenge to Erdogan in his two-decade rule.
WHO’s Tedros pledges support after first visit to Turkiye’s quake zone
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WHO’s Tedros pledges support after first visit to Turkiye’s quake zone
- “From WHO side, we will support in any way possible based on the issues observed or documented and based on the priorities of the (health) ministry,” Tedros said
Armed clashes erupt in Aleppo between Syrian army and Kurdish-led SDF
- Two civilians were killed and eight others, including two children, were injured
- Defense Ministry accused SDF of targeting homes after they suddenly withdrew from jointly operated checkpoints, fired at government forces
LONDON: The Syrian Ministry of Defense accused the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces of launching a surprise attack on the Internal Security Forces and the Syrian Arab Army in Aleppo on Monday.
The clashes erupted in the densely populated neighborhoods of Ashrafiya and Sheikh Maqsoud, which have a Kurdish majority.
The Ministry of Health announced that two civilians were killed and eight others, including two children, were injured. It condemned the attack on a residential area near Al-Razi Hospital by SDF forces.
Syrian authorities also reported that one member of the Internal Security Forces and another from the army were injured, along with several civil defense personnel.
The Ministry of Defense denied the claims that the army initiated the conflict. It accused the SDF of targeting homes after they suddenly withdrew from jointly operated checkpoints and fired at government forces with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade shells, and mortars.
Injured civilians were admitted to Al-Razi Hospital in the city, and two Syrian Civil Defense personnel were injured while on duty at the Shihan roundabout, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
Fighting has spread to the Syriac Quarter, Sheikh Taha and Al-Jamiliya neighborhoods and to areas between the Shihan and Al-Larmon roundabouts, north of Aleppo, prompting dozens of families to flee their homes toward safer locations in Khalidiya and Nile Street, and closing the main Gaziantep-Aleppo highway. The civil defense accused SDF forces of shooting at one of their vehicles, which carried four members.
Azzam Al-Gharib, the governor of Aleppo, urged citizens to avoid approaching the clash sites or roads leading to the city center until further notice.
