Ceasefire violations reported in Syria, 166,000 people forced to flee over past week - U.N. says
Record ID:
1437358
Ceasefire violations reported in Syria, 166,000 people forced to flee over past week - U.N. says
- Title: Ceasefire violations reported in Syria, 166,000 people forced to flee over past week - U.N. says
- Date: 18th October 2019
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (OCTOBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) NEWS BRIEFING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) SPOKESMAN, HERVE VERHOOSEL, SAYING: "As part of this revisited distribution plan, WFP is scaling up its response to support 580,000 people in northeast Syria in October - 580,000 people only in October. Hostilities threaten the movements of humanitarian and commercial supplies that can negatively affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Reports show that distribution in commercial routes are - sorry, I will take that again - reports show that disruptions in commercial routes has an upward impact on the price. Price of food is of course going up and some markets are closed." JOURNALIST LISTENING NEWS BRIEFING IN PROGRESS U.N. SPHERE AND FLAG
- Embargoed: 1st November 2019 12:02
- Keywords: Kurds Trump WFP Turkey Turkish offensive Syria ceasefire Erdogan United Nations
- Location: RAS AL AIN & HASAKA, SYRIA / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / BARDARASH REFUGEE CAMP, DOHUK, IRAQ
- City: RAS AL AIN & HASAKA, SYRIA / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / BARDARASH REFUGEE CAMP, DOHUK, IRAQ
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA003B1ML26F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: "Shelling and intermittent clashes" have been reported at the Syrian-Turkish border on Friday (October 18), U.N. agencies say, despite a five-day ceasefire agreed between Turkey and the United States
The truce, announced on Thursday (October 17) by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence after talks in Ankara with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, sets out a five-day pause to let the Kurdish-led SDF militia withdraw from an area controlled by Turkish forces.
The Turkish assault has created a new humanitarian crisis in Syria, which has forced 166,000 civilians to flee their homes, U.N. refugee agency spokesman, Andrej Mahecic told a news briefing.
The World Food Progamme said it has reached 170,000 people with monthly food assistance since October 9, but as more are expected to flee, the agency is scaling up its response and is planning to support 580,000 people for the rest of the month, spokesman Herve Verhoosel said.
(Production: Cecile Mantovani) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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