Shafaq News– Al-Sulaymaniyah/ Aleppo
Volunteer doctors in Al-Sulaymaniyah on Saturday called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to support the establishment of a cross-border medical corridor to Syria’s Kurdish-run Rojava*, warning that deteriorating health conditions there require immediate intervention.
Shafaq News correspondent said the doctors issued a statement of solidarity with residents of Rojava and urged authorities to facilitate the opening of a medical center or field clinic at the Semalka border crossing.
Speaking at a press conference, physician Rawa Qorbani, who represented the volunteer doctors, said that “this is a historic turning point. If this opportunity is lost, history will not absolve anyone, neither us nor any member of the Kurdish people, should silence prevail in the face of what is happening.”
He warned that Kurdish communities in northern Syria are facing “existential threats” under extremely sensitive humanitarian conditions, calling on political institutions and authorities to assume their ethical and humanitarian responsibilities.
The appeal comes as conditions inside northern Syria continue to worsen. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Saturday a severe deterioration in health services in Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, amid a tightening siege imposed by Syrian government forces in predominantly Kurdish areas.
Citing a doctor at Al-Amal Modern Hospital, the observatory said four children died from dehydration caused by malnutrition and extreme cold. It added that several newborns died during childbirth inside the hospital due to power outages and the lack of oxygen supplies.
The city is also facing a complete shortage of infant formula, acute shortages of medicines, and growing reliance on contaminated drinking water after stored supplies were depleted, according to the observatory.
Authorities and civil institutions across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have expanded humanitarian and public support efforts for Kurds in Syria, particularly in Erbil and Duhok. Additionally, public mobilization has intensified, as hundreds of residents, activists, and Syrian Kurds staged demonstrations in Al-Sulaymaniyah and Erbil, including protests outside the United Nations mission and the US consulate, urging international action to halt military operations in northern Syria and allow humanitarian access.
The situation in Syria witnessed shifts, while military tensions alternatively intensified and eased in areas hosting key ISIS camps and detention facilities. SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi said on January 22 that his forces would uphold the ceasefire and pursue dialogue with the Syrian government, following the agreement signed with the Syrian government.
*Rojava refers to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), a self-governing region in northern and northeastern Syria that emerged during the civil war after 2012 and is secured mainly by the SDF.