GENEVA, Switzerland, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross joined the Red Crescent Movement in expressing outrage over the death of a volunteer in Aleppo, Syria.
The ICRC said Syrian Red Crescent volunteer Sabri Ebrahim was killed Nov. 11 in Aleppo, a restive city in northern Syria.
"In total, 32 [Syrian Red Crescent] aid workers have lost their lives since the beginning of the conflict in Syria [in 2011], all of them killed while carrying out their humanitarian duties," the aid groups said in a statement Tuesday. "They were all clearly displaying the red crescent emblem, which should have given them protection under international humanitarian law."
Both groups in October called on all parties to the conflict in Syria to respect the work of humanitarian aid workers trying to respond to the needs of those people affected by ongoing civil war.
"Without this respect, saving lives and providing much-needed assistance to millions of Syrians will become close to impossible," they said.
The ICRC said Syria's population lacks the basic systems to cope with the coming winter. Robert Mardini, the ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East, said earlier this month civilians trapped in either government-controlled or rebel-controlled areas, where humanitarian agencies don't have access, are the "most vulnerable of the vulnerable."
