By Muaz al-Muhammad
DERIK, Syria (North Press) – Muhammad suffered from a severe water crisis and a tragic situation due to a significant water shortage due to the recent Turkish airstrikes targeting service facilities, water stations, and electricity generation stations in northeastern Syria.
Faisal Muhammad, a resident of the town of Girke Lege (Maabadeh), east of Qamishli, northeast Syria, faces the water supply problem, like others in the region.
Muhammad holds the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) responsible for providing essential assistance to the residents, in addition to supporting the municipality with some vehicles to meet the population’s needs of water.
Turkey targeted 89 sites in the first half of January 2024 with 122 strikes, including 62 by drones and 22 by warplanes.
The Turkish airstrikes focused on sites of energy and fuel production and conversion, as well as checkpoints of the Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria (Asayish). They also targeted four security and military sites of the Syrian government forces.
The Turkish airstrikes on power stations in the town of Rmelan, far northeast Syria, and Sweidiya gas plant deprived nearly 200,000 individuals in hundreds of villages in Gerki Lege, and Derik (al-Malikiyah), northeast Syria, of drinking water, as most water stations operate on power.
On a self-initiative, Masoud Suleiman, a water tanker owner, has been providing water to residents since the power outage.
Suleiman urged tanker owners to take collective initiatives and assist in providing water to those who have no access to drinking water.
Majeda Ali, Co-chair of Water Directorate in Gerki Lege, affiliated with the AANES, noted that the residents face a severe water crisis after the power outage and the Turkish targeting of the Sweidiya gas plant.
Ali told North Press that Gerki Lege has previously faced the same crisis due to breakdowns in the electricity system in the area. “Plans were scheduled to connect the wells with electricity in Rmelan, and conditions were favorable for the implementation of the plans at the time,” Ali stated.
“But the recent airstrikes knocked all electricity stations in the Sweidiya plant and Rmelan out of service,” she added.
Regarding the current situation of distributing water, Ali said, “There are only two generators operating now, running four wells for two hours, because the generators were designed to supply electricity, not water.”
She noted that currently half of the population in Gerki Lege has no water due to limited resources, with only one water tanker available in the area.
Ali emphasized that concerned authorities should provide some available resources by securing more water tankers or generators to operate the wells.