Antakya, Turkey, May 27, 2016 — Today’s advance of ISIS on Azaz, northern Syria, has trapped around 160,000 people in the town, with residents unable to flee to safety while Turkey’s border remains closed and exit roads have been blocked.
People are “terrified for their lives”, according to International Rescue Committee staff in Azaz. The IRC has also received confirmed reports that at least four entire families, including women and children, were killed today in the outskirts of the town.
The IRC runs centres for both children and women in Azaz as well as providing clean water and sanitation to a camp supporting 8,500 people. More than half the camp’s population have left to find safety elsewhere in the town.
The IRC has relocated its staff from the centers and camp to shelter in safer areas of Azaz until the situation enables them to return.
Follow us
The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is at work in over 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. Learn more at www.rescue.org and follow the IRC on Twitter & Facebook.