Damascus: The International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) has issued a press release stating that the humanitarian situation
in Syria deteriorated rapidly during September amid continuing violence.
According to release Aleppo, Damascus,
Homs, Deir Ez-Zor and Rural Damascus are worst hit. Fighting has displaced tens
of thousands, and many who had already left home have had to move again.
The head of the ICRC's Syria delegation Marianne Gasser said, "a lot of
infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, making it harder for people to
find the things they need in order to survive," particularly medical care
and medical supplies.
Heavy fighting was reported in Syria's most populated city -- Aleppo -- where
rebel forces launched a new offensive to evict government forces from their
positions.
The Tawhid Brigade rebel faction said its members entered the Sheikh Maksoud
neighborhood to fight pro-government Kurdish gunmen.
But state-run Syrian TV said government troops repulsed an attack on the
neighborhood with the help of its residents.
Since the beginning of
the year, the ICRC has worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to provided
food for over a million people and essential household items to a quarter of a
million. Over the same period, the ICRC and SARC have helped provide water for
over a million people in the governorates of Damascus, Rural Damascus and Homs.