Refugee Suffering Worsens amid Clashes in Northwest Syria

Arab World

June 29th, 7:53am

Idlib – Firas Karam

Smoke rises from Ariha after a regime attack on Monday. (AFP)

Regime forces and opposition factions have continued to clash at contact lines in the war-torn country’s northwest. Turkish artillery and “Great Conquest” opposition factions targeted regime positions in the southern countryside of the northwestern governorate of Idlib, reported activists to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Moreover, Syrian opposition militants, backed by Turkey, attacked regime positions northwest of the Hama governorate. Reports of material damage and human losses were made from both sides. Regime forces, meanwhile, struck several opposition-held spots in Idlib’s southern countryside and Hama’s northwestern plains. According to the Observatory, the forces launched missiles and used heavy-machine-gun attacks against the opposition forces. Meanwhile, Syrian refugees scattered across random IDP camps in northwestern regions of the country are trying to cope with a searing heatwave that saw temperatures hitting 40 degrees Celsius. Scorching temperatures doubled the suffering of refugees residing in poorly equipped camps and living with diminishing essential services. Today, refugee families fear for the life of their sick, elderly, and children who might not withstand the summer heat. Refugees have resorted to primitive methods like damping their clothes with water to help them endure the intense heat. The heat is made even worse by plastic tarps that trap more of the temperature. Shaalan Bakkour, Al-Izza IDP camp director in the town of Kfar Lucin near the Turkish-Syrian border, said humanitarian organizations are failing to provide refugees with adequate quantities of water to cope with the weather. When added to a lack of electricity badly needed to run fans, low water supplies compound the people’s suffering inside the camp, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3053086/refugee-suffering-worsens-amid-clashes-northwest-syria