US-imposed sanctions against the Syrian government are impeding humanitarian efforts in the country following the devastating February 6 earthquake, UN official Mostafa Benlamlih warned. Benlamlih also warned against the “politicization” of humanitarian efforts in Syria

More than 23,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, officials have said.

US Secretary of State Blinken claimed that Washington was the “leading provider of aid to Syria and the Syrian people”, despite also announcing a refusal to coordinate with the Syrian government, who control an area inhabited by around 70 percent of the Syrian population. The UN warned that “very little” aid was reaching Syrian government controlled territory.

The total death toll in Turkey and Syria surpassed 23,000 on Friday. The day before 79,717 people were recorded injured after the earthquake that affected 10 provinces in Turkey, according to Turkey’s Disaster Management Authority. Both numbers are likely to rise considerably.

Photo by: Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons