Evacuees flood camp from last IS holdout in NE Syria: UN

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, February 26, 2019
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UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Conditions at an overcrowded camp in northeastern Syria hosting evacuees from the last holdout of the Islamic State (IS) are "extremely challenging," a UN spokesman said on Monday.

An estimated 6,000 people, mostly women and children, from the last Da'esh (IS)-held area of Baghouz in Syria's Deir Ezzour governorate have arrived at the Al-Hol camp over the last 72 hours, bringing the total number of people who have arrived at the camp since December of last year to over 37,000 people, said Stephen Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"Conditions at the camp are extremely challenging, particularly in the reception areas, which are currently hosting thousands of people, but with insufficient water and sanitation hygiene facilities," Dujarric said. "This is increasing the risk of a disease outbreak. To help decongestion in these areas, extensions to the camp are already underway, with services and assistance provided to people in these areas."

The spokesman told reporters at a regular briefing that the total camp population is now at almost 47,000 people while another 3,000 people have also showed up at the Suar transit-center between Hajin, another restive area, and Al-Hol, adding that the latest displaced people are waiting to be transferred to the camp.

Besides the northeast, Dujarric expressed concern for civilians in northwestern Syria.

"We are also gravely concerned by further reports of civilian casualties due to hostilities and unexploded ordinances in Idlib and Hama governorates in the northwestern part of the country, including in areas believed to be in or near the demilitarized zone," he said.

"Recently, civilians, including women and children, have reportedly been killed and injured due to heavy shelling in Ma'ret An-Nu'man and in Khan Sheikhoun city in southern rural Idlib," he said.

Khan Sheikhoun was the site in April 2017 of an alleged chemical attack in the Syrian civil war. The West claimed 74 people were killed and more than 550 injured in the attack that allegedly used Sarin gas, while Damascus said the attack was a "fabrication." Enditem

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