According to the Red Cross, the earthquake catastrophe robbed those affected in Syria of their last strength after years of civil war crisis. “She really broke the back of the Syrian people. I have heard from many people that their spirits are broken,” Secretary-General Jagan Chapagin of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said Thursday.
It was “crisis after crisis,” Chapagain said at Beirut airport on his way from Syria to Turkey. In 2011, a civil war broke out in Syria, which continues to this day. The northwest of the country has been particularly hard hit by the earthquakes in the border area with Turkey. Even before the disaster, about 90 percent of the population was dependent on humanitarian aid, according to the UN. The devastating quakes hit an area of Syria that was already missing before the catastrophe.
“The earthquake made it worse”
Chapagain wants to get a picture of the situation in Syria and Turkey. In Syria, this also concerns goods that the Syrian Red Crescent needs to adequately help the victims in the country.
“It could be weeks before we know the extent of the damage, how people are moving and what kind of support they need,” Chaagain said. “At the moment it is still very cold, so people mainly live in schools and mosques and community centers.” The infrastructure in Syria was already bad before and the earthquakes have now made the situation even worse.
Activists: Turkey is bombing Syria again
In addition to the enormous damage caused by the earthquake, the conflict situation in the region is also tense. Turkish troops are again bombing targets in a northern Syrian city hit by the quake, activists say. A 70-year-old civilian was killed in attacks on Tal Rifat on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports. Another person was injured. According to the activists, the shelling continued into the afternoon.
Tal Rifat is partly controlled by Kurdish militias and partly by Syrian government forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stressed that the city near the Turkish border was already in chaos after the earthquake. The residents were now even more afraid of the bombing.
Turkey, which occupies areas in northern Syria, has long been campaigning against Kurdish militias there. It is also not Ankara’s first attack since the strong earthquakes hit the region. According to the activists, a civilian was killed in a Turkish drone attack in the town of Kobane near the Turkish border on Sunday. Kobane is also badly affected by the earthquakes. Turkey had previously attacked the city of Manbij, which was also shaken by the quakes, with rockets.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
