After more than a decade of bombardment, dwindling international support, and a crippling economic crisis, Syria's opposition-held northwest was already barely hanging on when calamity struck.
Parts of the provinces of Idlib and adjacent Aleppo held by Turkey-backed rebels suffered the bulk of the quake's casualties in Syria: overof more than 5,800, according to the United Nations and government authorities.
Only some wore work gloves, covered in the grey-white dust of smashed cinderblocks. Even their eyelashes, cracked lips and beards were coated in the chalky substance. He said rescuers had been allowed to go home to see their families for the first time on Tuesday, after round-the-clock operations for the last eight days that required every volunteer and every piece of equipment."What happened to us – it's the first time it's happened around the world. There was an earthquake and the international community and the U.N. don't help," he said.
Dozens of U.N. aid trucks later brought food and medicine through that crossing, authorized by a 2014 Security Council resolution that allowed aid into Syria without Assad's approval.Assad gave his assent "If Assad wanted to help these poor people, then he wouldn't have displaced them to begin with," said Joumaa Ramadan, a day labourer.
Those in Idlib have no choice but to rebuild, with Turkey, which hosts 3.6 million Syrians, no longer accepting others, while many fear to cross the frontline into areas controlled by Assad's forces. But resources are scarce.
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