17 January 2018•Update: 17 January 2018
HATAY
Twenty aid trucks Wednesday headed from Turkey to the war-battered northern Syrian city of Idlib.
The trucks, sent by a number of Turkish bodies such as the Turkish Red Crescent and the state Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), crossed Turkey’s Cilvegozu Border Gate in Hatay, the Red Crescent told Anadolu Agency.
The latest delivery includes such supplies as tents, blankets, clothes, and food aid.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas, while millions more were displaced. During the conflict, the Assad regime has been accused many times by international actors of targeting Syrian civilians with chemical weapons.
According to the UN, 13.1 million people in Syria are in need of humanitarian assistance, some 6.5 million people are now food insecure, and 4 million people are at risk of becoming food insecure -- more than double the number at risk a year ago.
Turkey currently hosts over 3 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world.
Reporting by Cem Genco: Writing by Handan Kazanci
