Kobane to run out of medicines in three days, Kurdish Red Crescent warns

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish Red Crescent has warned that the besieged town of Kobane in northeastern Syria (Rojava) will run out of medicines within three days, with baby formula already depleted.

“The stores will run out of medicines in three days,” Shadya Ahmed, head of the Kurdish Red Crescent’s mobile teams in Kobane, told Rudaw on Tuesday.

She added that pharmacies have completely run out of baby formula, creating a “massive crisis.”

Despite a January 29 agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus that halted fighting and outlined steps toward military and administrative integration, Kobane remains under siege by Syrian government forces. Residents are calling for roads to be reopened and urgent humanitarian aid delivered to the city.

Ahmed stressed the need for immediate support, particularly medicines for chronic conditions such as diabetes, thalassemia, and cancer.

The Kurdish Red Crescent’s warning follows a visit by a United Nations delegation from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which assessed the humanitarian situation and the conditions of displaced people in Kobane.

Ahmed said the mobile teams began work three days ago, visiting schools and other facilities sheltering displaced civilians. Around 25 schools and seven mosques are housing displaced families, with each school accommodating roughly 50 families, or about 180 people.

“Many of the displaced have not even received heaters and are living in extreme weather conditions,” she said.

She also highlighted a rise in viral diseases among children. At one school alone, her teams treated 42 children, 30 of whom were diagnosed with diarrhea from contaminated water. Ahmed warned that overcrowding in schools is accelerating the spread of disease.