Ongoing violence is hampering humanitarian aid in parts of Syria. Syria: Ongoing violence is hampering aid Peace and security
UN humanitarian agencies warned on Thursday that Syria continues to face serious security challenges and that aid to people in the northeast of the country is seriously hampered by the uncertainty that has emerged since the fall of the Assad regime.
In an updated report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said more than 25,000 people had been forced to flee the city of Manbij due to gunfire and airstrikes. Fighting has also intensified this week in eastern Aleppo and around the Tishreen Dam, a target for various Syrian factions vying for control of the north of the country, including the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, allied with the PKK and the People’s Protection Units.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians flee conflict
The escalating violence has brought the number of newly displaced people to 652,000, OCHA said. The latest deadly incidents in northeast Syria included shelling in the town of Manbij on 25 January, which injured children. On Saturday, clashes in a camp for displaced people in Jarablus, north of Manbij, left seven people, including two children, wounded and five shelters destroyed. On the same day, a car bomb exploded near a hospital and a school in Manbij, reportedly killing a civilian and injuring seven others.
OCHA also reported clashes in coastal areas of Syria and an increase in criminal activity, including looting and vandalism.
Humanitarian Aid Needs
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that utilities are either completely or partially out in parts of Syria. In the major cities of Homs and Hama, electricity is supplied for only 45 to 60 minutes every eight hours.
102 health facilities in the northwest of the country are running low on medicines and bandages. The UN and its humanitarian partners are calling for $1.2 billion to help nearly seven million of the country’s most vulnerable people.