Aid convoys for quake affectees, sit-ins against sanctions on Syria

• 

A relief aid convoy consisting of 9 trucks, provided by civil, tribal, religious, and charitable organizations, left the city of Al-Hasakah to the affected areas in Lattakia Governorate.

The convoy included mattresses, blankets, tents, foodstuffs, clothes, infant formula, medical supplies, medicines, and general hygiene supplies. It is the second convoy sent to the people of the province, after the first one, which was sent last week to Aleppo.

Al-Hasakah deputy governor, Hassan Al-Shamhoud, confirmed in a statement to Al Mayadeen that, "Despite the difficult conditions that the province of Al-Hasakah is going through and the presence of the US and Turkish occupations, the various social components in the province have collected large numbers of aid and sent them in two convoys, the first to Aleppo, and the second to Latakia.

He pointed out that the people of the province donated an amount exceeding one and a half billion Syrian pounds, which was deposited in the account of the Higher Committee for Relief.

Read: Pan-Arab campaign announces launch of convoy to break Syria blockade

For his part, the official of the “From Al-Hasakah, our hearts are with you” campaign, Radhi Shatawy, confirmed that “an initiative was launched through social media pages, to provide aid to our affected people in the governorates. 242 million Syrian pounds were collected and distributed directly to the affected people in hospitals and health centers in both Aleppo and Latakia.” Shatawy added that three trucks carrying clothes, shoes, blankets, and medicines, were sent to be provided directly to the affected people in the provinces of Aleppo and Latakia.

In parallel, Al-Hasakah athletes carried out a sit-in in the square of late President Hafez Al-Assad, in the center of Al-Hasakah city, calling for the lifting of the siege and sanctions imposed on the Syrian people.

Sit-inners called for the immediate lifting of the siege and the sanctions imposed on the Syrian people and called for the end of the US and Turkish occupations in the north and east of the country.

They also called on the international community and the United Nations to put pressure to take binding decisions that lift the sanctions and the blockade. This has been exacerbating the suffering of the Syrians after the disaster of the earthquake that hit the country, which requires great efforts to start reconstruction.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) controls about 80% of Al-Hasakah, and the Turkish-backed armed factions control the city of Ras al-Ain and its countryside. At the same time, the presence of the Syrian government is limited to tiny neighborhoods in the two cities of Al-Hasakah, Qamishli, and a number of villages in their countryside.

On February 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria and was followed by several strong aftershocks, which were felt by residents in Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt.

The earthquake caused more than 50,000 deaths in the two countries. Thousands of buildings were severely damaged, including schools, health care facilities, and other public infrastructure, such as roads, airports, ports, oil stations, power lines, water supply, and sanitation.