UN delegation visits Turkish-held areas in Syria’s Hasakah
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A delegation of different UN agencies working in northeast Syria, accompanied with Russian armed vehicles and helicopters, visited on Thursday the Turkish-controlled areas in the northern countryside of Hasakah, northeast Syria.
An informed source told North Press said that representatives of WHO, UNICEF, and OCHA accompanied with four Russian armed vehicles and two helicopters, visited the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), northeast Syria.
The source added that the goal from this visit was to check the health sector in general, as well as providing medical aid to a healthcare center in the Turkish-held city of Sere Kaniye.
The visit was planned a while ago, but the approval was not obtained until today, according to the source.
The delegation also visited Alouk Water Pumping Station, which re-operated a few days ago after three months of halting pumping operations. The suspension was caused after the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition factions, known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), repeatedly attacked pipelines and the power grid that feeds the station.
The station has been controlled by Turkey and its affiliated SNA since October 2019 following the Turkish invasion of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad in the same month. Since then, Turkey has cut off water to Hasakah for more than 27 times, according to official statements by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Since the beginning of August, the SNA factions have frequently prevented maintenance workshops , affiliated with the Syrian government, from reaching the station and do the necessary repairs.
The delegation roamed along with the Russian patrol the center town of Zirgan (Abu Rasin), and the village of al-Asadiya in the northern countryside of Hasakah.
This is the first UN visit to the area since the Turkish incursion into the cities of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad in 2019.