Turkish charity distributes food packages in Syria

By Esref Musa and Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - A Turkish charity distributed food packages to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Syria.

The IDPs have fled bombings by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Aleppo to Afrin, a province which was cleared of terrorists by a Turkey-backed military operation.

Dozens of civilians have lost their lives and tens of thousands have been displaced as the regime and its allies continue pounding their hometowns.

Selim Tosun, a representative of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), said Tuesday that more than 400,000 people have been displaced since November 2019 and they have marched toward Turkey's borders.

Tosun said the charity is trying to help those people by catering to their nutrition needs.

Over a million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks over the last year.

Since the eruption of the bloody civil war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has taken in some 3.7 million Syrians who fled their country, making Turkey the world’s top refugee-hosting country.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut in Ankara