1 February 2020
From their numerous “observation posts” dotted across northern Syria, Turkish troops watch idly as Assad and Russia butcher and displace thousands of civilians. Why are they there at all?
Khan Shaykhun
Instead of publicly announcing a brief ceasefire that could allow thousands of Syrians to flee bombardment Tuesday, the UN communicated the news in a four-line email to NGOs.
Over 40,000 displaced Syrians have contracted tropical diseases in just two months, as a result of sleeping in open fields with no clean water or sanitation; just one aspect of the staggering humanitarian crisis attending the largest wave of displacement since Rwanda in the 1990s.
A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.