The UN confirmed a humanitarian convoy of 24 trucks reached Kobane on Sunday, delivering fuel, bread and ready-to-eat rations to residents displaced by recent fighting. The operation was coordinated with the Syrian government, which opened two aid corridors including one to Hasakeh. The delivery follows a ceasefire extension after Kurdish forces ceded territory to government troops, but both sides later accused each other of violations, including strikes that reportedly killed a child.
UN Convoy Delivers Life-Saving Aid to Kobane Amid Tense Ceasefire
Earlier this week, residents in Kobane told AFP the enclave was flooded with people who had fled the Syrian army's advances (-)(-/AFP/AFP)
A United Nations humanitarian convoy reached the Kurdish-majority town of Kobane on Sunday, delivering urgently needed supplies to thousands displaced by recent fighting in northern Syria, UN officials told AFP.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 24 trucks were en route carrying "life-saving aid, including fuel, bread and ready-to-eat rations" to support people affected by recent developments. Celine Schmitt, a spokesperson for the UN refugee agency in Syria, later confirmed the convoy's arrival.
The operation was coordinated with the Syrian government, which announced it had opened two humanitarian corridors—one to Kobane (also known as Ain al-Arab) and another into nearby Hasakeh province—to permit the entry of aid.
Humanitarian conditions: Residents in Kobane had told AFP earlier in the week that the town was overwhelmed by people fleeing advances by the Syrian army and was suffering shortages of food, drinking water and electricity.
Trading Accusations
Kobane is squeezed against the Turkish border to the north and surrounded on other sides by government forces. The town lies roughly 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the Kurds' main stronghold in Syria's far northeast.
On Saturday, Damascus and Kurdish forces extended a four-day ceasefire by a further 15 days. Syrian officials said the pause was intended to facilitate the transfer of Islamic State (IS) detainees from Syria to prisons in Iraq, a process that began earlier in the week.
Despite the agreement, both sides reported violations on Sunday night. State media quoted the army saying the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) struck government positions with drones, while the SDF accused "Damascus-affiliated factions" of attacks around Kobane, including an incident that reportedly killed a child.
After weeks of fighting in which the SDF lost large swathes of territory to government advances, Kurdish forces are now largely confined to Kurdish-majority areas in the northeast and to Kobane. The town gained international attention when Kurdish fighters broke a lengthy IS siege there in 2015, a symbolic first major victory against the jihadists.
Syria's new Islamist-aligned authorities have demanded the SDF disband, and Washington has said the rationale for its alliance with the SDF has largely come to an end. Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democratic Party of the Peoples (DEM) warned the situation in Kobane had deteriorated from a crisis into a "deadly catastrophe" after a delegation visited the town.
OCHA: "24 trucks carrying life-saving aid, including fuel, bread and ready-to-eat rations, to support people affected by recent developments."
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