Syria (Turkey cross-border)

Overview

At least 220,000 civilians have died as a result of conflict since the civil war began in 2011.? An estimated 11.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. ?6.2 million are internally displaced and 6.8 million refugees have left the country, mostly to neighbouring Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. ?

The humanitarian needs in Syria are severe across all sectors, with health, shelter, and food needs most critical in areas where fighting continues including governorates in the northwest and northeast of the country. Protection interventions are required countrywide. Access for humanitarians remains extremely problematic, even in areas retaken by the Syrian Arab Army ?.

Since late 2015, the Syrian Arab army have been slowly regaining territory across the country. With only governorates in the northeast and northwest remaining outside government control, the war is widely seen as entering its final and possibly most violent stages. Turkish, Russian, Iranian, American, and Syrian troops are stationed inside Syria, as well as a range of non-state armed groups ranging from more moderate opposition groups to Salafist Jihadi groups.

Latest Developments

07/11: Despite recent ceasefire agreements, sporadic clashes between Turkish-backed armed forces and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continue in different locations across Hasakeh and Raqqa governorates in northeast Syria. Since 6 November, fighting intensified in the Ain Issa area in Raqqa governorate. Turkish-backed forces have taken control of several villages, despite support from Syrian regime forces to the SDF. Joint Russian-Turkish patrols started on 1 November indicating that the terms of the Sochi agreement of 22 October, that stipulated the removal of SDF troops from a planned buffer zone along the Turkish/Syrian border, continue to be implemented.?

07/11: A military campaign launched by Turkey into the Kurdish-held territory in the northeast on 9 October, has had a severe impact on the civilian population in the area. Airstrikes and ground attacks have killed and injured hundreds of civilians. Despite a decrease in fighting since the implementation of a ceasefire, over 108,000 people remain displaced across Hasakeh, Raqqa and Aleppo governorates where towns are overwhelmed by the influx and services are overstretched. Of the more than 106,000 returned, 40% have returned to areas now under the control of Turkish Armed Forces. While the majority of the displaced are residing in host communities, some 16,700 IDPs are staying in schools serving as collective shelters. Infrastructure, including a water station severing over 460,000 people in Hasakeh city and surrounding areas, has been severely damaged. Increased food prices, restricted food supply and a disrupted planting season as a result of the clashes are likely to further strain the already dire food security situation in the region. The people living in northeast Syria have experienced multiple displacements, surrounding cities where people are likely to flee are heavily contaminated with mines and lack basic services, and IDP camps in the area are already overstretched due to years of conflict. Humanitarian operations are severely hampered by fighting, disrupted supply chains of humanitarian goods, and shifts in territorial control.  ?