Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: As the death toll in Monday’s mega-earthquakes in Turkey and civil war-torn Syria crossed the 21,000 mark, Washington lifted sanctions on Damascus for six months to facilitate the flow of relief aid, and India decided to send more relief to Syria.
Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said the death toll in his country climbed to 17,674 with 72,879 people wounded. In Syria, 1,678 people were killed in government-held areas, and 2,190 in the rebel-controlled region.
The media reported on Friday that the US has lifted sanctions on Syria for six months and approved an aid package of USD 85 million for the two temblor-hit neighboring countries.
At the request of Syria seeking more aid and rescue teams, India is considering sending more aid to Damascus where catastrophic earthquakes have sparked a massive humanitarian crisis.
Like Turkey, Syria has also been facing tremors across the earthquake-hit provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, and Latakia, and the death toll is rising. However, unlike in Turkey, where over 70 countries, including India, rushed relief and rescue teams, Syria has not yet received the same treatment as its war-torn provinces are being held by government and opposition forces.
India may send one more military aircraft to Syria with medicines, medical equipment, and protective gear, among others. But, the reports said, New Delhi may not be sending rescue teams at this moment.
Earlier this week, India sent one C-130J Super Hercules helicopter to Syria, with six tonnes of relief material, including three truckloads of general and protective gear, emergency use medicines, syringes, and equipment, including ECG machines, monitors, and other essential medical items.
Due to relentless tremors, Syria’s death toll has reached 3,450 while over 10,000 are injured. More than 100 buildings have collapsed. The country is witnessing a rising number of deaths there and growing problems with food, shelter, and clothing shortage.
The US started imposing sanctions on Syria in the 1970s because of its alleged support of terrorism, activities in Lebanon, and other Syrian government activities. The sanctions became tighter because of the Syrian civil war which started 12 years ago.
The European Union imposed sanctions in 2011 as Syria’s civil war broke out. The United Nations imposed limited sanctions related to Syria, generally targeted at the Islamic State group.