Voices from CARE staff and partner organizations working in and around Aleppo on the current situation after airstrikes hit UN aid convoys.
CARE partner in northern Syria, covering Aleppo and Idleb:
“We were gathering information from Aleppo and Idleb on the ceasefire and the aid convoys expected to arrive, yesterday before the attacks. We were expecting the ceasefire agreement to fall apart before the official timing of its end (today at 7 pm) due to information that we received. People started going to the functioning local markets to buy their urgent needs before 7 pm yesterday, the markets were crowded as people were trying to buy all what they can before the expected attacks. At 7 pm all the streets were empty. After 7 pm airstrikes started bombing heavily and aid convoys were targeted. Many of the convoy’s trucks were destroyed, and even the trucks that were not destroyed were damaged because of shrapnels. The convoy that was heading to Aleppo and supposedly from there to other towns had not entered the city yet, never being able to reach the communities who were waiting desperately. Now no other convoys are expected to come anytime soon, even the ones that had been planned will no longer take place because they are now afraid of being targeted. The communities in besieged and hard to reach communities in Aleppo and in other places have not received any of the aid they have been anticipating and now will have to wait even longer.”
Maithree Abeyrathna, CARE Program Manager for Cross Border activities in Turkey:
“The situation around Aleppo is more dire than ever now. The eastern part of Aleppo has been besieged and cut off from regular aid for several months, and now, after the outrageous attacks on civilians and aid workers that happened yesterday, resulting in UN aid suspension throughout Syria, the western part of the city is suffering from the same destiny. Aleppo is just one of the many areas in Syria suffering under siege and daily violations of humanitarian law and principle. CARE partners on the ground struggle to deliver assistance, particularly in northern parts of Syria nearby Aleppo and Idleb. They often have to risk their lives to reach out to vulnerable communities under bombardment and airstrikes. Sometimes they are cut off from phone reception, electricity, and basic essential means of communication for several consecutive days. Humanitarian aid workers should never be a target.”