Raqqa. IMAGE: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters
Civilians in the Syrian city of Raqqa controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) suffer from a dire humanitarian situation, Lieutenant General Vladimir Savchenko, the chief of the Russian center for reconciliation of conflicting sides in Syria, said on September 15.
He pointed out that civilians lack of safe drinking water, so cases of cholera have already been registered.
“The Center for Reconciliation of Conflicting Sides continues receiving reports about a difficult humanitarian situation in the city of Raqqa. Local residents, who have been forcibly returned from the camps for temporarily displaced persons, have no access to pure drinking water and suffer deeply from the shortage of food and daily necessities,” he said. “Dysentery is raging in the city. There have been cases of cholera.”
According to Savchenko, the two-day-long rallies and protests of Raqqa residents have been suppressed by the SDF.
“In Raqqa and nearby populated localities, militants of the Syrian Democratic Forces detained several dozens of residents. Out of those, at least 16 people are candidates at local elections in the Syrian Arab Republic scheduled for October 10,” the general said.
