Syria

15 Feb 2023; MEMO: More than seven million children have been affected by the devastating earthquakes that hit uürkiye and Syria last week, the United Nations said yesterday, expressing fears that thousands may have died.

"In Turkiye, the total number of children living in the 10 provinces hit by the earthquakes was 4.6 million. In Syria, 2.5 million children are affected," UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

ATAREB, Syria (AP) — Draped in a heavy wool shawl against the cold, Ayesha dragged her feet, her toddler granddaughter trailing behind her, as they made the 15-minute walk from her tent to the nearest bathroom in a nearby building, the only place they have to wash.

Seven days after the earthquake leveled their home in the northwest Syrian town of Atareb, the 43-year-old still has no access to water, electricity or heat for her and 12 family members, all crammed into a single tent.

12 Feb 2023; MEMO: At least 3,553 people have been killed and thousands injured in Syria from a series of powerful earthquakes centered in southern Turkiye that jolted the wider region early on Monday, according to figures compiled on Saturday, reports Anadolu Agency.

The Syrian regime's Health Ministry reported at least 1,387 fatalities in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Tartus, with another 2,326 people wounded.

ATAREB, Syria (AP) — After years of war, residents of areas in northwest Syria struck by a massive earthquake are grappling with their new and worsening reality.

Almost one week after the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck northern Syria and neighboring Turkey, the United Nations has acknowledged an international failure to help Syrian quake victims.

13 Feb 2023; MEMO: On Sunday ten trucks carrying relief materials, food and tents entered northwest Syria almost a week after a devastating earthquake brought entire apartment blocks to the ground and killed at least 33,000 people here and in southern Turkiye.

For the first four days the road leading to the only crossing through which humanitarian aid enters this region, Bab Al-Hawa, was destroyed by the quake and nothing could get through.

08 Feb 2023; MEMO: Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has criticised western sanctions which he said have "exacerbated the tragedy and catastrophe" of the devastating earthquake which struck parts of Syria and neighbouring Turkiye in the early hours of Monday morning.

08 Feb 2023; MEMO: The only crossing, Bab Al-Hawa, between Syria and Turkiye for transporting international aid into Syria is not functioning because of earthquake damage to roads around it, according to UN officials, Reuters reports.

According to the report, officials from the United Nations' World Food Program said that the Bab Al-Hawa crossing remained intact after Monday's devastating earthquake, but it was not in use because roads leading there were either damaged or closed.

08 Feb 2023; MEMO: Three border crossings into north-west Syria from southern Turkiye have reopened on Wednesday following negotiations between Turkish authorities and members of the Syrian opposition, local media reports.

According to the report, the reopening of the three crossings comes three days after a deadly earthquake rocked Turkiye and Syria.

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: The ancient Citadel of Aleppo, scarred by Syria's 11-year conflict, suffered further damage in the earthquake that ravaged southern Turkiye and northern Syria, a local architect and the Syrian Antiquities Directorate said, Reuters reports.

On Tuesday, a pile of rubble near the Citadel was all that was left of a structure identified by local architect, Mohammed Al-Rifaei, as the "sheep tower", which he said had stood there until the devastating early morning quake.

08 Feb 2023; MEMO: A new born baby girl was rescued from under the rubble in Syria with her umbilical cord still attached to her lifeless mother.

Al-Nour's entire family, father Abdullah Al-Malehan, her mother, Afra, her four brothers, and her aunt were killed under the rubble of their home following the earthquake in Jindayris, northern Syria.