ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A humanitarian organization based in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Friday dispatched a second aid convoy to Syria’s Alawite-majority coastal region where violent clashes in March left hundreds dead and thousands in need of assistance.
“The second humanitarian convoy has launched as part of the grassroots initiative in northern and eastern Syria to assist our people in the Syrian coast,” read a statement from the Kurdish Red Crescent.
The convoy includes 14,000 aid packages - 12,000 food baskets and 2,000 hygiene baskets - collected through donations from residents of Rojava, the Kurdish Red Crescent, and other organizations, including the Women’s Initiative and the Mesopotamia Association, according to the statement.
In March, residents of Rojava launched a campaign to support Alawite-majority areas in western Syria, where security forces loyal to Damascus clashed with armed groups reportedly linked to the family of ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, killing around 1,500 people, mostly Alawites and many of them civilians.
Ahmed Ibrahim, an executive member of the Kurdish Red Crescent, told Rudaw English at the time that around 10,000 boxes of essential items were sent in a first convoy of aid.
The Qamishli-based organization, established in 2012, has become one of the largest local humanitarian actors, delivering aid to conflict-affected communities across Syria.
The violence in western Syria has drawn widespread condemnation from Western and regional powers, as well as human rights organizations.
