The Syrian Red Crescent aid group launched the largest rescue operation in the five-year Syrian civil war by evacuating 500 sick and people from four besieged towns with the help of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Photo courtesy of Syrian Red Crescent
DAMASCUS, Syria, April 21 (UPI) -- The seemingly largest evacuation operation in the five-year Syrian civil war has been carried out as peace talks between the Syrian regime under President Bashar al-Assad and rebel forces languish.
About 500 sick and wounded people were evacuated from four besieged Syrian towns and taken to the rebel-held area of Qalaat al-Madiq for treatment by relief agencies. About 250 people were evacuated from Zabadani and Madaya -- towns near Damascus blockaded by pro-government forces -- and about 250 others were evacuated from Foua and Kefraya -- largely pro-government towns near Aleppo blockaded by rebel forces.
The operation -- the first major rescue effort since December -- was mostly carried out by the Syrian Red Crescent with the help of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on Wednesday said the lives of the sick and wounded depended on a successful evacuation.
"We continue, obviously, to call on all parties to the conflict that medical evacuation of the sick and wounded be facilitated in a timely and systematic manner everywhere in Syria and by all parties to the conflict," Dujarric said.
About half a million people in Syria are living in besieged areas as they face the threat of disease and starvation.
Jan Egeland, chairman of a U.N. humanitarian task force in Syria, said the rescue operation had troubles but was "successfully completed" -- calling it a "breakthrough."
"They have now come to their destinations," Egeland told BBC News. "Of course their destinations are either in government-controlled areas or in opposition-controlled areas."
Peace talks in Geneva seeking a political resolution have stalled between Assad's regime and a consolidated faction of rebel forces. It is unclear whether a cease-fire that began nearly two months ago will be upheld, as rebel representatives walked out of peace talks this week citing government violations of the truce.
