According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, government-controlled areas in Syria have received shipments that do not include food, medical equipment and fuel from the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran and Russia.
The Syrian government has tight control over what it allows aid into opposition-held areasand Bab al-Hawa, the only border crossing between Turkey and Syria approved by the United Nations to transport international aid into northwestern Syria, is the lifeline for areas controlled by the opposition. in the north.
The United Nations says it has been in talks with the government of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s authoritarian president, and that it is still negotiating with opposition groups to be allowed to send convoys from the Syrian capital Damascus and other parts of the country. other territories controlled by the government. into opposition-held areas, where some four million people were almost entirely dependent on international aid even before the earthquake.
Over the past week, the United Nations has sent 52 trucks, with materials including blankets and medical equipment, across the border to Syria from Turkey, and 10 more will be sent to Syria on Monday.
The UN says recovery efforts have been hampered by a lack of machinery, vehicles and fuel, as well as aftershocks that are believed to be continuing in northwestern Syria and forcing people to flee their homes.
In Turkey, heavy damage to the port of IskenderunA key point for delivering supplies to Turkey and Syria is also hindering efforts to deliver much-needed supplies, said Murat Aymelek, assistant professor of marine engineering at the Technical University of Iskenderun. for earthquake victims.
Even as search and rescue teams are wrapping up their operations and focusing on removing debris and recovering bodies, there are occasional stories of people still alive from the wreckage. .
