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France, Russia send humanitarian aid to Syria for Ghouta victims
CHATEAUROUX, France, July 21, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – France and Russia on
Saturday despatched a plane carrying humanitarian aid to the ravaged former
Syrian rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, which was retaken by government
forces in April after a five-year siege.
A Russian Antonov 124 military cargo plane carrying 50 tons of medical aid
and humanitarian supplies left the airport at the central French city of
Chateauroux at 3am (0100 GMT), the airport’s head Mark Bottemine told AFP.
Undertaken as part of a UN Security Council resolution, “the aim of this
project is to enable civilian populations better access to aid,” a joint
Franco-Russian statement said.
The plane is heading for Russia’s Hmeimim air base in the west of Syria.
It is the first joint humanitarian aid operation between Russia and a western
country.
The aid will be distributed on Saturday under the supervision of the UN’s
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA).
“Humanitarian assistance is an absolute priority and must be distributed
in accordance with principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and
independence across all Syrian territory without exception, where
international humanitarian law must be fully respected,” the joint statement
said.
France had secured “guarantees” from Russia that the Syrian regime would
not obstruct the distribution of the aid, and that it would not be
misappropriated or diverted for political purposes, the foreign ministry
said.
More than 1,700 civilians were killed during the Syrian regime’s operation
in Eastern Ghouta in March and April. According to the Russian military, more
than 160,000 people, both military and civilians, were evacuated from the
region.
The cargo comprises medical equipment, tents, cooking utensils and
blankets, said an AFP photographer who witnessed the plane being loaded.
The medical aid is aimed at some 500 people who have been seriously
injured and the 15,000 others who have lighter injuries during the fighting
in Eastern Ghouta, on the fringes of the Syrian capital Damascus.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1410 hrs