Qatar dispatches 2 more aid planes to post-Assad Syria

ISTANBUL

Qatar sent two cargo planes carrying humanitarian aid to Syria on Monday as part of its airlift for the country following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said a plane carrying technical and humanitarian aid to the Syrian people arrived at Damascus Airport.

The ministry said the technical aid will be used to re-operate the airport to ensure the flow of aid into Syria.

“The aid comes as part of Qatar’s air bridge to provide relief to our brothers in Syria and contribute to addressing their humanitarian conditions,” it added.

The Qatari Red Crescent Society also said another aid plane arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut to be transferred to Damascus.

The society said the plane is loaded with 33 tons of humanitarian aid, including blankets and food parcels.

Qatar has so far sent seven aid planes to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan to be shipped to Syria through land routes.

Bashar Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, marking the end of the Baath Party's rule, which had been in power since 1963. The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured key cities in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar