Saudi Arabia dispatches new aid plane to Syria

ANKARA

Saudi Arabia sent a new aid plane to Syria on Saturday as part of the kingdom’s relief bridge to the country following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said a plane loaded with 30 tons of relief materials arrived at Damascus International Airport.

According to the Saudi state news agency SPA, the aid plane is the 13th to have been dispatched by Saudi Arabia since Assad’s fall last month.

SPA said the aircraft is loaded with food, shelter supplies, and medical aid.

On Thursday, Damascus received three additional aid planes from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait as part of ongoing airlifts by the three Gulf nations to provide relief to the war-torn country.

Since 2011, Saudi Arabia has provided over $856.89 million in humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, according to the Saudi news agency.

The World Bank reported in May 2024 that 27% of Syrians – approximately 5.7 million people – live in extreme poverty due to successive economic crises, leaving many unable to meet their basic needs.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending his family's decades-long rule.

Since then, many countries worldwide, including Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, launched relief and aid campaigns for the Syrian people.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi