On Tuesday, a plane carrying aid from Saudi Arabia landed at a Syrian airport controlled by President Bashar al-Assad’s government. This marks the first shipment of aid from the kingdom, which has supported the armed opposition against Assad during Syria’s 11-year civil war.
Al-Arabiya, which is owned by Saudi Arabia, stated that a plane carrying 35 tons of food, medical aid, and shelter had landed at Aleppo International Airport. This is part of a Saudi humanitarian effort to assist Syrians impacted by the recent earthquake that caused fatalities.
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According to the report, the operation was executed under the directive of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
A representative of the Saudi delegation informed Syrian television that they were instructed by the Saudi Arabian leadership to assist the Syrian people impacted by the earthquake throughout Syria. They referred to the Syrians as their “brothers.”
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The individual, whose identity was not disclosed, mentioned that the plane that arrived on Tuesday was the first of multiple planes that will arrive in the following days.
Prior to Tuesday, Saudi Arabia had only provided assistance to the northwest region of the country, which is held by the opposition. Saudi state-owned Al-Hadath reported that a 12-truck convoy had reached the ravaged city of Jandaris on Monday.
Last week’s earthquake in Turkey and Syria caused a total of over 37,000 fatalities, with Syria accounting for over 5,714 of them, as reported by Syrian state media and a UN agency, according to a Reuters count.