The United Nation’s Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syrian crisis, Kevin Kennedy, said that the UN continues to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria, noting that 85 aid workers have so far been killed in Syria as a result of the targeting of public facilities such as schools and hospitals.
At a press conference at the UN Humanitarian Coordination Office in Gaziantep, Turkey, Kennedy on Wednesday said that relief agencies are working to meet the needs of the new wave of internally displaced people fleeing the recently escalating battles in northern Syria.
Kennedy added that the UN World Food Program secured humanitarian aid for about 650,000 people in northern Syria. He thanked Turkey for its generous hosting of Syrian refugees since the outbreak of the crisis nearly five years ago.
Kennedy pointed out that around 60,000 people arrived at the Syrian-Turkish border in the past two weeks. Kennedy added that he thinks Turkey will make the right decision with regard to responding to the new influx of displacement from Aleppo and also from Mount Turkmen in rural Latakia.
The UN official warned that there are about 200,000 people under siege in Syria and are at risk of starvation.
Russia continues to commit war crimes in Syria, targeting residential areas, hospitals, schools and bakeries. Nearly 1,716 civilians, including women and children, have so far been killed in Russian airstrikes which began on September 30. The strikes hit 12 hospitals in three provinces as well as bakeries in rural Idlib and Homs.
The Syrian Coalition stressed that “Russia’s war strategy on Syria has been to primarily target, kill, and displace civilians since day one.”
“The Russian bombardment amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The international community and the UN Security Council must strongly condemn these attacks. Urgent action must also be taken to stop further Russian aggression and to hold the perpetrators accountable,” the coalition said. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)
