The European Union said on Friday (13) that it will send funded planes to Syria to provide emergency medical assistance and other essential supplies.
“The collapse of the Assad regime offers new hope for the Syrian people. But this moment of change also brings risks and difficulties”, declared the president of the union, Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU said it funded flights to bring in a total of 50 tonnes of health supplies from its stockpiles in Dubai. From there the shipment will go to Adana, Turkey, and will then be distributed in Syria in the coming days.
In addition, 46 tonnes of supplies to support healthcare, education and shelter will be trucked from Denmark to Adana.
Understand the conflict in Syria
The Assad family regime was overthrown in Syria on December 8, after 50 years in power, when rebel groups took over the capital Damascus.
President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and is in Moscow after gaining asylum, according to a source in Russia.
Syria’s civil war began during the Arab Spring in 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.
The country was plunged into full-scale conflict when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.
Furthermore, the Islamic State, a terrorist group, also managed to gain a foothold in the country and came to control 70% of Syrian territory.
Fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia — joined in, escalating the country’s war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”
Russia has allied with Bashar al-Assad’s government to combat the Islamic State and rebels, while the United States has led an international coalition to repel the terrorist group.
After a ceasefire agreement in 2020, the conflict remained largely “dormant”, with minor clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.
More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.
This content was originally published in European Union funds flights to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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