Humanitarian Aid Halted In Northeastern Syria Amid Turkish Operation - Kurdish Authorities

Non-governmental organizations have halted all humanitarian aid and withdrawn from northeastern Syria amid Turkey's ongoing operation in the area, leaving the hundreds of thousands of people, including many children, who have fled their homes to fend for themselves, Kurdish authorities said in statement on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2019) Non-governmental organizations have halted all humanitarian aid and withdrawn from northeastern Syria amid Turkey's ongoing operation in the area, leaving the hundreds of thousands of people, including many children, who have fled their homes to fend for themselves, Kurdish authorities said in statement on Tuesday.

"The humanitarian situation facing our displaced people from the areas affected by the aggression has worsened amid the complete disruption of humanitarian aid and the suspension of all international organizations and the withdrawal of their staff from the autonomous areas in northern and eastern Syria," the statement read.

In addition, the Kurdish authority went on to outline that 275,000 people had been displaced since the beginning of Turkey's operation in the region, with 70,000 children among them. Many, the statement continued, are injured and in need of medical attention, which they are not receiving because all hospitals in the region have closed.

People of the towns and villages accepting the displaced are providing them with basic accommodation in closed schools, schoolyards and tents, and what basic aid they can afford, the statement said.

The semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities have called on the United Nations, European Union and Arab League to intervene with humanitarian and medical aid.

The autonomous administration of the territories in northeastern Syria announced on Sunday that it had reached an agreement with the Syrian authorities to deploy the Syrian Arab Army along the entire Syrian border with Turkey to help repel attacks of the Turkish army and pro-Turkish groups. Damascus has repeatedly condemned its neighbor's so-called occupation policy in northern Syria, while Russia, a key Syrian ally, has stated that Ankara needs to avoid actions that could stand in the way of resolving the Syria's protracted armed conflict.

The Syrian army on Monday entered the city of Manbij in northern Syria, previously controlled by the Kurdish Autonomous Administration. According to media reports, flags of the Syrian Arab Republic were raised on administrative buildings in Hasakah and Raqqa.