UN: 84 die while fleeing Daesh in Syria

By Bayram Altug</p> <p>GENEVA (AA) – At least 84 people fleeing Daesh-held areas in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor have died since last December either en route or shortly after arriving at the al-Hol camp, according to a UN official on Friday. </p> <p>“The UN in Syria remains gravely concerned about the plight of thousands of civilians fleeing the last [Daesh]-held areas of Al-Baghouz in rural Deir-Ez-Zor governorate after intense hostilities in the area,” Jens Laerke, spokesman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told reporters in Geneva.</p> <p>Laerke said “175 children have been hospitalized due to medical complications from severe acute malnutrition,” citing reports from UN agencies and aid groups.</p> <p>Some 13,000 people, 90 percent women and children, have arrived at the al-Hol camp in Al Hassakeh Governorate in the last week alone, he said, adding that many are “exhausted, hungry and sick. </p> <p>“Since December 2018, approximately 45,000 people have fled the Hajin and Al-Baghouz areas of Deir-ez-Zor and arrived at Al Hol camp,&quot; he said. </p> <p>Large numbers of people continue to arrive at the site on a daily basis, which is now operating above capacity. </p> <p>Daesh now controlled 2 percent of the Syrian territory after it lost the area east of the Euphrates.</p> <p>But some 28 percent of Syrian lands are under YPG/PKK’s occupation.</p> <p>Regime forces control 60 percent of the country, while the military opposition and anti-regime armed groups control 10 percent of the Syrian territory.</p> <p>Ankara has repeatedly criticized the U.S. for supplying weapons to the terrorist YPG/PKK for fighting the Daesh terror group, arguing that using one terrorist group to fight another makes no sense.</p> <p>In its 30-year terrorist campaign, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.<br> <br> </p> <p>