Military escalation in Syria as last straw for millions: UN

Damascus: The military escalation in northern Syria will be “the last straw for millions of people grappling with dire humanitarian conditions” in the war-torn Arab nation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned.

OCHA issued the warning by reposting a report by the Syria International NGO Regional Forum (SIRF), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the Syria crisis, amid the Turkish threats of a broad military action against the Kurdish fighters in the country’s northern and northeastern regions, reports Xinhua news agency.

“Across northern Syria, civilians have been reportedly injured and key civilian infrastructure has been impacted, threatening people’s access to vital supplies such as power and water,” the report said, hinting at the Turkish targeting of grain silos, power stations, oil and gas facilities, and infrastructure.

With more than 4 million displaced people in northern Syria, “any further surge in hostilities” might lead to “a new wave of displacement”, it added.

The report also warned that the cholera spread in northern Syria, along with “acute funding and supply shortages”, will “contribute to one of the harshest winters since the beginning of the crisis … over a decade ago”.

Earlier in the day, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that the Turkish army bombarded the town of Abu Rasain and surrounding villages in the countryside of Hasakah province, causing massive damage to residential areas.