- Title: Tens of thousands displaced in Syria after Turkish offensive, U.N. says
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: IDLIB, SYRIA (FILE - MAY 18, 2019) (REUTERS) CHILDREN EATING FOOD TENT SET UP WITH FAN / CLOTHING AND BLANKETS HANGING ON WASHING LINE DISPLACED MAN FIXING MAKESHIFT TENT / SEVERAL CHILDREN SITTING ON GROUND UNDER TENT
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 12:07
- Keywords: conflict displaced people WFP Turkey Filippo Grandi Syria refugees offensive United Nations
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / RAS AL AIN, TEL ABYAD AND IDLIB, SYRIA / CEYLANPINAR, TURKEY
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / RAS AL AIN, TEL ABYAD AND IDLIB, SYRIA / CEYLANPINAR, TURKEY
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics,United Nations
- Reuters ID: LVA005B0NLNBB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The United Nations on Friday (October 11) expressed concern on the displacement of tens of thousands of people in northern Syria following an offensive launched by Turkey earlier this week.
Turkish warplanes and artillery hit Kurdish militia targets in northeast Syria on Friday on the third day of an offensive that has killed hundreds of people.
Turkey had launched a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria on Wednesday (October 9) just days after U.S. troops pulled back from the area, with air strikes and artillery hitting YPG militia positions around the border town of Ras al Ain.
The move comes after a U.S. decision to withdraw from the region, leaving Turkey to launch an offensive against Kurdish militants and rattling allies, including France, one of Washington's main partners in the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.
Hundreds of thousands of people are at "grave risk" if the "escalation" continues through winter, U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grande said.
More than 70,000 people from Ras Al Ain and Tel Abyad in northeastern Syria have been displaced by escalating violence, according to the U.N. World Food Programme, which helps feed close to 650,000 people in northeastern Syria.
"Obviously, the situation is changing every hour," Verhoosel said. "We need to follow what is happening to adapt our plan to the actual situation."
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