Humanitarian Crisis In Syria's Rukban Camp Led To Death Of 14 People - Syrian NGO

Fourteen people died in the Rukban refugee camp in Syria over the past two weeks due to the catastrophic humanitarian situation, Ahmad Qazem, the head of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, told Sputnik on Friday.

HOMS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th October, 2018) Fourteen people died in the Rukban refugee camp in Syria over the past two weeks due to the catastrophic humanitarian situation, Ahmad Qazem, the head of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, told Sputnik on Friday.

The Rukban refugee camp, which now hosts about 50,000-60,000 people, is located in Syria's At Tanf district (Homs province) near the Jordanian border, next to a US military base where Syrian opposition forces are being trained. Moscow and Damascus, on one side, and Washington on the other accuse each other of hindering the delivery of UN humanitarian assistance to the area.

"Over the past two weeks, 14 people [in Rukban camp], including four children and two women, have died due to unbearable living conditions and lack of medical care," Qazem said.

According to human rights activists, the humanitarian situation has worsened in Rukban due to closure of nearby border crossing by the Jordanian side.

"Jordan also does not allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the camp," Qazem added.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups and terrorist organizations.

The Syrian authorities have repeatedly stated that the territory around At Tanf occupied by the US-led Western coalition was a haven for radical groups, including for militants of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia), which organized a large-scale attack on the settlements of the Suwayda province from the side of At Tanf in September.