The Regional Director for the Near and Middle East of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Fabrizio Carbone, warned that the infrastructure he described as “fragile” in northern Syria would be “destroyed if there were a military escalation”.
“This could put tens of thousands of people at risk,” Carbone added in a statement to The National. In reference to the recent Turkish threats to launch a ground military action in northeastern Syria, its timing has not been determined.
Since the twentieth of last month, northern and north-eastern Syria have witnessed a military escalation of Turkish forces through artillery, warplanes and marches, resulting in the death of dozens of people and the wounding of others, followed by a threat to Ankara to launch expanded military ground work in the region.
“The ICRC may not have access to conflict areas, putting thousands of people at risk,” Carbone said.
Some 14 million Syrians, half of them children, require humanitarian assistance, the highest number since the start of the Syrian crisis in March 2011, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
“The country has the largest number of IDPs, with more than 2.5 million people living without adequate shelter,” Carbone said.
He added: “Years of war have affected the economy, pushing 90 percent of the population below the poverty line, and unemployment to reach 50 percent.”
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