DAMASCUS (Xinhua) – The military escalation in northern Syria will be “the last straw for millions of people grappling with dire humanitarian conditions” due to the Western imposed sanctions and foreign-backed war in country, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned.
OCHA issued the warning by reposting a report by the Syria International NGO Regional Forum (SIRF), a non-governmental organization dedicated to the Syria crisis, on its reliefweb website, amid the Turkish threats of a broad military action against the Kurdish militants in northern and northeastern Syria.
“Across northern Syria, civilians have been reportedly injured and key civilian infrastructure has been impacted, threatening people’s access to vital supplies such as power and water,” the report said, hinting at the Turkish targeting of grain silos, power stations, oil and gas facilities, and infrastructure.
With more than 4 million displaced people in northern Syria, “any further surge in hostilities” might lead to “a new wave of displacement,” it added.
The report also warned that the cholera spread in northern Syria, along with “acute funding and supply shortages,” will “contribute to one of the harshest winters since the beginning of the crisis ... over a decade ago.”
Earlier in the day, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that the Turkish army bombarded the town of Abu Rasain and surrounding villages in the countryside of Hasakah Province in northeastern Syria, causing massive damage to residential areas.
During an interview with the state television, Syrian Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources Bassam Tohme said, “The Turkish aggression against northern Syria has caused great damage to the oil facilities.”
He noted that the bombing targeted a gas plant, causing cessation of its production.
The Syrian oil minister highlighted that the plant was processing 150 tons of natural gas for domestic use, and about one million cubic meters of gas for a power station that supplies the population of Hasakah province with electricity.”
Tohme pointed out that fuel stations were also damaged and “many wells were burned,” which led to “significant environmental pollution due to tank explosions.”
Turkish drones hit oil installations late on Wednesday near the Syrian town of Qamishli, as well as the oil-rich area Rumeilan, near which U.S. occupation troops are located, according to three sources in the Syrian cities of Qamishli and Hasakah.