Turkey/Syria: Cross-Border Humanitarian Reach and Activities from Turkey - August 2018

CONTEXT

During the month of August, the poor security environment in north-west Syria continued due to a brief resumption of hostilities and the criminality that has been ongoing in the north-west since April 2018. The 10th of August saw multiple incidents of aerial and ground bombardment, which resulted in a high number of civilian casualties. Of note was the shelling on Big Orm town in western rural Aleppo, which claimed the lives of at least 37 people, including 23 children and seven women, and wounded 65 people. In southern rural Idleb, shelling was reported near a de-conflicted hospital in Ma’arrat An Nu’man town and another hospital in Tramla village, causing both hospitals to briefly suspend operations. On 12 August, a five-story building in Sarmada town in Idleb governorate collapsed due to an explosion at an arms depot, which allegedly belongs to an arms dealer, reportedly causing the death of 67 people. Meanwhile, a number of incidents of abduction were reported in north-west Syria, including the abduction of the head of the Coastal Health Directorate.