ReliefWeb

As of 23 January 2018, bombardments in the frame of the "Olive Branch" Turkish military operation in Afrin district continued with deadly incidents involving civilians (18 deaths reported). Hostilities reportedly caused IDPs to flee from southern rural Idleb to Afrin district and people residing in communities near the border to flee their homes to nearby caves. A limited number of ECHO cross-border partners are intervening along with main actors from Damascus. Moreover, shelling by opposition groups caused 9 casualties in Damascus city. Another 21 people were wounded in an attack in Bab Touma district.

The UNSC convened on 23 January to discuss the Afrin offensive and the worsening of the humanitarian situation, together with ongoing hostilities in Idleb and East Goutha. It did not condemn nor demand an end to the Afrin operations.

The UNHCR-led CCCM Cluster has tracked 247,765 displacements to Idleb Governorate, western Aleppo and northern Hama over the past month. Bab Al Hawa (Idleb) and Bab Al Salama (Aleppo) are closed for UN shipments from Turkey but remain open for commercial and TRC/NGOs movements and medical evacuations with restrictions and delays. DG ECHO partners continue to support first line emergency response and health care assistance.

On 19 January, Russia confirmed a conciliation conference for Syria in Sochi on 29-30 January which will be co-hosted by Iran and Turkey to set up the new constitution for post-war Syria.