MESOP NEWS REPORT : Turkish Assault on Afrin Displaces Over 126,000 Civilians: UN

MESOP UN REPORT AFRIN – 23/01/2018 – 21:26 – More than 126,000 civilians have so far been displaced by the Turkish military operation against the Kurdish city of Afrin in northwest Syria, said the spokesman for the United Nations Secretary General Stéphane Dujarric.

“As for Afrin, we’re obviously following that situation extremely closely. We’re very much concerned about the ongoing reports of fighting and military operations in the Afrin district,” he said on Tuesday. “As far as our humanitarian colleagues have told us, there are about 324,000 men, women and children, including 126,000 already displaced. So, the risk to the civilians is great. The continued fighting, the military operations, has placed these civilians in harm’s way. As I said, many of these people have already been displaced once, if not twice,” Dujarric added.

“In fact, 60 percent of the population of the district is in need of humanitarian aid and relies on humanitarian aid. We have been preparing for a large‑scale response depending on the needs of the civilian population. And again, we cannot stress enough the need for all parties involved to protect civilians, to protect civilian infrastructure, and to respect international law.” www.mesop.de