Iraq to Send 3 Relief Planes to Quake-Affected Syria’s Latakia
ERBIL, KRI, Iraq (North Press) – On Saturday, Iraq announced that it would send three relief aid planes to Syria’s Latakia after the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmad al-Sahhaf, told the al-Iraqiya News channel “Tomorrow, three relief planes will arrive in Latakia, in Syria.”
He noted that it will focus on providing “medical aid and food.”
The General Secretariat of the Iraqi Council of Ministers, Haider Majeed, related the amount of relief aid that was provided to Syria and Turkey after the massive earthquake.
“To date, 50 planes have been sent; 24 of them to the airports of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria, carrying 126.5 tons of aid, and 26 planes to Gaziantep Airport in Turkey, carrying 136.5 tons,” the General Secretariat announced.
About 234 employees, crews, and official delegations accompanied these aid planes, in addition to 35 officers and members of the search and investigation teams of the Civil Defense Directorate to Turkey, along with the Iraqi Red Crescent teams that went to Syria, Majeed added.
He said that three aid planes will set off for Latakia, which was declared as an earthquake disaster zone, for the first time.
Other Iraqi public institutions have also sent aid. The Ministry of Commerce provided 650 tons of foodstuffs, the Ministry of Defense provided 850 tons of relief materials, and the Ministry of Oil sent one million liters of fuel, in addition to other donations.
The spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 13 Iraqis were killed in the earthquake, while 22 Iraqis were injured in the city of Gaziantep. As for Syria, no Iraqi deaths were recorded.