White Helmets’ say they will soon arrive to support people of Deir Az Zor
Raed al-Saleh, the director of Syria’s Civil Defence organisation, known as the White Helmets, addressed the residents of Deir Az Zor, saying the “volunteers will soon be among you to serve you”.
“Today and every day, our eyes and hearts yearn for you, our people in Raqqa and Hasakah, and we are doing our best to be by your side,” al-Saleh wrote in a post on X.
“Our teams will not stop until they reach every Syrian city to plant peace and hope in it,” he added.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) held Deir Az Zor, the largest city in eastern Syria, for several days after the Syrian government forces, which previously controlled it, withdrew following last weekend’s blitz by rebel forces.
On Wednesday, the opposition groups then said they had taken full control of the city after the SDF withdrew.
Fighting in Deir Az Zor leaves hospital looted
While people have been celebrating in the capital, Damascus, for days, other cities in the country have witnessed fighting between Kurdish-led forces, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and rebel fighters who toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
On Wednesday, the eastern city of Deir Az Zor was seized by Syrian rebels following clashes with Kurdish-led forces who briefly held it after pro-government soldiers fled.
The fighting has left a trail. The city’s main hospital, which used to provide hundreds of thousands of patients with healthcare services, was looted by the SDF causing great damage.
“We are currently facing a severe shortage of medical supplies; there are no MRI machines in the entire eastern region,” Mamoun Heiza, the head of the Health Department in Deir Az Zor, told Al Jazeera. “We are also short on medicines and other medical supplies. I call on the medical staff to resume their duties at their respective hospitals and start treating members of the public in need.”
The SDF still controls eastern sections of the governorate, across the Euphrates river where the coalition fighters say they are advancing. The power struggle in Deir Az Zor, a critical battleground in the fight against ISIL (ISIS) from 2014-2017, comes after rebel forces also wrested control of Kurdish-led forces in the northern city of Manbij.
ICRC engineers dispatched to maintain critical Syrian dam
A team of engineers has been dispatched to help with the maintenance of the Tishreen Dam, a critical source of power and electricity in eastern Syria.
The International Committee of the Red Cross in Syria (ICRC) has provided support, with agreement from Syria’s new government, to shore up the structure and ensure its continued operation.
The Tishreen Dam, operated by the General Organisation for Euphrates Dams, supplies drinking water and electricity to eastern Syria. The dam, in combination with the Tabqa and Baath dams, also provides over two-thirds of the country’s power.
Kurdish SDF fighters previously controlled the dam with support from the United States, taking control of the facility in 2015. The new Syrian government has since taken control of the site.
Unexploded ordnance kills 21 in Syria after al-Assad’s fall: Monitor
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that at least 21 civilians, including two children, have been killed by unexploded ordnance since the fall of Bashar al-Assad almost a week ago. The casualties include six civilians in Homs, four in Deir Az Zor, three in each of Palmyra and Manbij, two in Aleppo and Idlib each, and one in Tal Rifaat.
The deaths resulted from the explosion of land mines left from the time of Syria’s war, which left many people injured as well, according to the UK-based war monitor.
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