By Mustafa Khalifa.
Ghat, 4 February 2016:
The Algerian government has sent 18 tonnes of medical aid to Ghat and Obari, and promises . . .[restrict]to send supplies of food and clothing as well.
The aid, comprising drugs, blood plasma, dressings and other medical supplies, delivered yesterday in coordination with the Tuareg Tribes’ Social Council, was taken through the nearby Tin El Koum border crossing, still officially closed by the Algerians but open for the occasion.
“This new aid comes as a response to the calls for emergency aid by the United Nations and is part of similar operations that Algeria has already conducted to meet the needs of these populations,” the Algerian foreign ministry said.
It also follows the visit to Algiers ten days ago by the head of the Presidency Council, prime minister-designate Faiez Serraj. when he was in Algiers last week. According to some reports in Algeria, Serraj asked the Algerians to send aid.
Both Obari and Ghat are suffering a humanitarian crisis as a result of the continuing clashes in the former. For Ghat, these have effectively closed the road east to Sebha, as a result of which there is no other vehicle access other than the border crossing.
Thanking Algeria, the municipalities as well as the Tuareg Social Council noted the longstanding bonds between the two countries.
The aid arrived a day after Ghat municpal council appealed to the government and international humanitarian organisations to take urgent action to save the health service in the town following the departure of North Korean doctors. [/restrict]
