Turkish military attacks on northeast Syria have resulted in widespread shortages of essential services such as fuel and electricity, as detailed in Situation Report #3, dated 26 January and published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on ReliefWeb on Monday.
The report, a product of the NES Forum shared from SIRF for informational purposes, highlights the severe impact on over a million people across eleven cities and 2750 villages, caused by systematic Turkish attacks on critical civilian infrastructure since October 2023.
The recent Turkish strikes from January 13-16 have further compounded the devastation, affecting medical facilities, water access and food supply chains, thereby posing immediate threats to civilian life and well-being. The escalation has not only jeopardised the sustainability of NGO-supported camps but also the continuity of services provided by non-governmental organisations in the region.
The report underlines the critical shortages of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas, which have hampered essential daily activities such as cooking and heating, particularly affecting internally displaced persons and local communities. Additionally, the complete disconnection of the Alouk Water Station from the grid has left over 610,000 people without access to water, with more than 1.4 million people facing limited access to safe water due to the lack of electricity.
Medical facilities, targeted in the December Turkish strikes, have suffered critical damage, disrupting the oxygen supply to numerous private and public hospitals and endangering essential health services, including laboratory work and x-ray services. The NES NGO Forum, in its statement, has emphasised that the scale of destruction far exceeds the humanitarian community’s capacity to provide emergency life-saving services.
The report underscores the urgent need for major rehabilitation efforts to restore sustainable access to essential services, extending beyond the immediate scope of humanitarian aid activities, and noted that the repeated targeting of vital civilian infrastructure necessitates a concerted effort to ensure the continued safety and well-being of civilians and humanitarian workers in northeast Syria.
