UAE sends vehicles and medical aid to assist with wildfires in Syria

The UAE has sent emergency response vehicles and medical aid to Syria to help locals cope with the wildfires that recently broke out along the north-western coast.

Local firefighters and helicopters sprayed the blazes near the Latakia countryside, which had been raging since Wednesday amid high temperatures that are affecting many countries around the world.

A video released last week by Syria’s White Helmet emergency response group showed raging wildfires in the Idlib countryside.

The country’s Agriculture Minister Mohamed Hassan Qatna said on Monday that most of the wildfires were “well controlled”.

Raging wildfires in Syria’s Latakia province

As part of its support for Syria, Emirates Red Crescent said it provided four firefighting vehicles, two ambulances, burn medication and pain relief drugs to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in Latakia.

The UAE embassy in Damascus also recently inaugurated its first co-ordination office for foreign aid in Syria, which aims to organise its charitable work to provide aid to beneficiaries, as well as monitor relevant projects.

It is the first in a series of offices to be established by the UAE in several countries. Each office will effectively mobilise and co-ordinate the efforts of various charitable organisations and institutions under one unified platform.

The UAE last month ended its Turkey-Syria earthquake aid operation.

Five-month Operation Gallant Knight 2, launched by the Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence in response to the disaster, saw the UAE provide urgent relief supplies, medical items and equipment through 260 flights.

At the end of the operation, the Ministry of Defence said 15,164 tonnes of aid were delivered, which included 6,912 tonnes of urgent aid materials, including tents, basic food and medicine and 8,252 tonnes of humanitarian aid transported through four cargo ships.

Updated: August 02, 2023, 5:16 PM