BEIRUT: A devastating earthquake that struck Turkiye and Syria killed more than 50,000 people, in a toll revised by AFP that includes figures from both government and rebel-controlled parts of war-torn Syria.
A total of 5,951 people were killed across Syria, while Turkiye recorded 44,374 deaths after the February 6 earthquake.
The new tally brings to 50,325 the total number of deaths caused by the disaster across both countries.
The Syrian government said 1,414 people had been killed in areas under its control, while Turkish-backed officials in Syria have put the death toll at 4,537 throughout rebel-held areas of the country.
The toll in areas outside government control includes deaths in territory held by rival rebel groups.
Local authorities relied on data collected from hospitals, medical centers and civil defense in Idlib and northern Aleppo province, health official Maram Al-Sheikh told AFP.
They also included civilian sources, he said, many of whom buried their dead without taking them to hospital.
The toll was finalized with help from the Assistance Coordination Unit (ACU) organization, a local United Nations partner.
The UN said it relied on the ACU’s data, including death tolls.
The death toll in rebel areas was “almost final, since most victims have been pulled from under the rubble,” he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor had reported 2,243 people killed in government-held areas — recording 824 more deaths than the official toll.
Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based group, said their tally was higher because it included “50 villages that rescuers did not reach.”
The group, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria, had reported the same death toll as the rebels in the northwest.
AFP had previously reported 3,688 deaths across Syria, compiling official government figures and data released by the White Helmets rescue group in the northwest.
The rebel rescuers told AFP their toll mostly included bodies they had removed from the rubble themselves.
The quake came nearly 12 years into Syria’s civil war which devastated swathes of the country, killed nearly half a million people and displaced millions more.
Quake killed more than 50,000 in Turkiye, Syria: Revised toll
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Quake killed more than 50,000 in Turkiye, Syria: Revised toll
- A total of 5,951 people were killed across Syria, while Turkiye recorded 44,374 deaths after the Feb. 6 earthquake
- The new tally brings to 50,325 the total number of deaths caused by the disaster across both countries
Ceasefire with Kurdish-led force extended for another 15 days, Syrian army says
- The defense ministry said the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants to Iraq
- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension
RAQQA, Syria: Hours after the expiration of a four-day truce between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led fighters Saturday, Syria’s defense ministry announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
The defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension.
“Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability,” the group said in a statement.
Over the past three weeks, there have been intense clashes between government forces and the SDF, in which the SDF lost large parts of the area they once controlled.
Earlier in the day, the Kurdish-led force called on the international community to prevent any escalation.
The end of the truce came as government forces have been sending reinforcements to Syria’s northeast.
Syria’s interim government signed an agreement last March with the SDF for it to hand over territory and to eventually merge its fighters with government forces. In early January, a new round of talks failed to make progress over the merger, leading to renewed fighting between the two sides.
A new version of the accord was signed last weekend, and a four-day ceasefire was declared Tuesday. Part of the new deal is that SDF members will have to merge into the army and police forces as individuals.
The SDF said in a statement Saturday that military buildups and logistical movements by government forces have been observed, “clearly indicating an intent to escalate and push the region toward a new confrontation.” The SDF said it will continue to abide by the truce.
On Saturday, state TV said authorities on Saturday released 126 boys under the age of 18 who were held at the Al-Aqtan prison near the northern city of Raqqa that was taken by government forces Friday. The teenagers were taken to the city of Raqqa where they were handed over to their families, the TV station said.
The prison is also home to some of the 9,000 members of the Daesh group who are held in northeastern Syria. Most of them remain held in jails run by the SDF. Government forces have so far taken control of two prisons while the rest are still run by the SDF.
Earlier this week, the US military said that some 7,000 Daesh detainees will be transferred to detention centers in neighboring Iraq.
On Wednesday, the US military said that 150 prisoners have been taken to Iraq.
