Turkish-backed groups resume water flow to Hasakah city

"The Turkish-backed SNA has resumed pumping water into Northeast Syria from the Alouk water station."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/10/22 21:49

The Alouk water reserviour in northeastern Syria. (Photo: Achive)

Syria Alouk Water Station Serekaniye SNA Water Crisis

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Syria-based Rojava Information Centre (RIC) reports that the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) stopped cutting the water to Hasakah city.

"The Turkish-backed SNA has resumed pumping water into NES (northeast Syria) from the Alouk water station, which sits in Turkish-occupied territory, after an 88-day cut-off, which greatly affected almost half a million people," the RIC said in a tweet.

The RIC added that residents of Hasakah city "have been forced to rely on expensive - and sometimes unfiltered - trucked water and unsafe groundwater extracted with makeshift wells, leading to health concerns."

This comes amidst a cholera outbreak in Syria.

According to a recent report of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and World Health Organization (WHO) between 25 August and 8 October, 15,823 suspected cases have been reported in Syria including 68 deaths.

It said the most affected Syrian governorate include Deir-ez-Zor (8,940 cases, 56.5 %), Ar-Raqqa (3,325 cases, 21%), Aleppo (2,411 cases, 15.2%), Al-Hasakeh (841 cases, 5.3%). Three of these provinces are under control of the Syrian Democratic Forces control.

Newar Mehmud, co-chair of Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (AANES) Water Department, told RIC that the Autonomous Administration first resumed supply of electricity from Darbasiyah to Alouk on Wednesday 19th of October.

Mehmud explained to RIC that the quantity of water now being delivered was still extremely small - "about the amount of 10 wells, maximum" - and that the resuming of water pumping occurred with coordination from Russia, who also facilitated NES' electricians visiting the water station.

Mehmud stated, "the situation is still not good, but anyway we are okay with this step for now".

The Alouk water station is near the border town of Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain, which Turkey and Turkish-backed groups occupied in Oct. 2019 during Ankara’s so-called Peace Spring Operation.

Since then, SNA groups have regularly shut water flow from the facility, affecting an estimated 500,000 people in Hasakah city and nearby communities.