ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hundreds of packages of medical supplies sent from Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast have arrived in Kobane, in northeastern Syria (Rojava), offering limited relief to a town grappling with a chronic shortage of essential medicines amid an ongoing siege by armed factions affiliated with Damascus, despite a declared ceasefire.
More than 700 packages of essential medical supplies reached Kobane on Friday, Ahmed Mahmood, co-chair of the town’s health department, told Rudaw.
The medical aid was provided by the Diyarbakır City Protection and Solidarity Platform.
Founded in 2022, the coalition brings together over 100 civil society organizations, professional chambers, and trade unions in Diyarbakır to protect the city’s social, cultural, and architectural fabric and coordinate crisis relief efforts.
Mahmood described the health situation in the besieged town as “extremely dire,” noting that hospitals are overwhelmed and no additional beds are available for incoming patients.
He said nearly 2,000 patients in Kobane are currently receiving medication but cautioned that, despite the latest delivery, severe shortages persist.
The humanitarian and health crisis in Kobane has reached alarming levels, notwithstanding a ceasefire agreement between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus.
The Syrian Arab Army and affiliated armed groups have yet to lift the 25-day siege, having cut off essential services including water, electricity, and fuel.
“The city is experiencing a 70 percent decline in medical supplies,” Bakhtyar Mudris, a physician based in Kobane, told Rudaw. He added that medicines smuggled into the city are being sold at prices approximately 40 percent higher than their original cost.
Previously, medicines were supplied from the Kurdistan Region, Damascus, and Aleppo. However, all access routes are now closed.
Late last month, the SDF and the Syrian government announced an internationally brokered agreement aimed at ending hostilities and integrating Rojava’s civil and military institutions under state authority.
Despite the agreement, Kobane has remained under a strict siege for more than three weeks, prompting growing concern over deteriorating humanitarian conditions.
On Wednesday, the United States called for the restoration of basic services to Kobane.
“The United States continues to reiterate the obligation of all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. We welcome the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure the safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance,” a spokesperson told Rudaw. “We emphasize that these corridors must be maintained and that basic services must be resumed in the city of Kobane.”
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