The numbers are compiled from the Syrian state media and the Syrian Civil Defense, a rescue service operating in the opposition-held northwest.
The Syrian Civil Defense, better known as the White Helmets, announced Friday that the death toll in northwestern Syria had risen to 2,037, with nearly 3,000 injuries.
“Search and rescue operations continue amid very difficult conditions, working under the rubble of destroyed buildings more than 100 hours after the earthquake,” the organization said on its Twitter account.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Syrian regime-held areas from the earthquake rose to 1,347 and the injuries to 2,295, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
In northwestern Syria, the first U.N. aid trucks since the quake to enter the opposition-controlled area from Turkey arrived Thursday, underscoring the difficulty of getting help to people there.
Meanwhile, Syrian leader Bashar Assad made his first public appearance Friday in an earthquake-devastated area of the country since the disaster.
Assad and his wife, Asmaa, visited wounded patients at the Aleppo University Hospital, Syrian state media said.
Aleppo is Syria’s second city, already scarred by years of heavy bombardment and shelling, and was among the most devastated cities by the Feb. 6 earthquake.
Rescuers sift through the rubble of a collapsed building in the regime-controlled town of Jableh in the province of Latakia, Syria, Feb. 9, 2023. (AFP Photo)
Aid trickling in
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, traveled to strife-torn Aleppo, Syria.
“Communities struggling after years of fierce fighting are now crippled by the earthquake,” Spoljaric tweeted.
“As this tragic event unfolds, people’s desperate plight must be addressed.”
An aid convoy crossed the Turkish border into opposition-held northwestern Syria on Thursday, the first delivery into the area since the quake, an official at the Bab al-Hawa crossing told AFP.
The crossing is the only way U.N. assistance can reach civilians without going through areas controlled by Syrian government forces.
A decade of civil war and Syrian-Russian aerial bombardment had already destroyed hospitals, collapsed the economy and prompted electricity, fuel and water shortages.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Security Council to authorize the opening of new cross-border humanitarian aid points between Turkey and Syria.
Four million people living in the opposition-held areas have had to rely on the Bab al-Hawa crossing as part of an aid operation authorized by the U.N. Security Council nearly a decade ago.
“This is the moment of unity, it’s not a moment to politicize or to divide but it is obvious that we need massive support,” Guterres said.
The aid will help some of the most vulnerable people affected by Monday’s two earthquakes that killed over 18,342 people in southeastern Türkiye.
A member of the Lebanese civil defense rests as the search and rescue operations continue in the regime-controlled town
of Jableh in the province of Latakia, Syria, Feb. 9, 2023. (AFP Photo)
US sanctions relief
The United States Treasury Department issued a six-month license to allow earthquake relief to Syria, which would otherwise be prohibited due to the sanctions on the country.
“As international allies and humanitarian partners mobilize to help those affected, I want to make very clear that U.S. sanctions in Syria will not stand in the way of life-saving efforts for the Syrian people,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo.
The license expands humanitarian authorizations already in place, “so that those providing assistance can focus on what’s needed most: saving lives and rebuilding.”
Syria has been gripped by civil war for 12 years, and sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU make exports to the country difficult.
Since Monday, Syrian government officials have been calling on the international community to lift the sanctions, which they blame for the lack of resources and heavy equipment to move debris during rescue efforts.
Following the devastating earthquake and aftershocks along the Turkish-Syrian border this week, the total death toll in Syria stood at 3,384 in both government-controlled and rebel-held north-western areas.
Source:dailysabah.com