HIGHLIGHTS
• The UN conducts humanitarian assessment mission to Ar Raqqah city for the first time since October 2017
• Conflict in Eastern Ghouta kills more than 1,600 people and displaces 133,000 others since mid-February
• Operation Olive Branch displaces more than 137,000 people since January 20 • WFP resumes operations in northeastern Syria following a one-month suspension
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
• The Syrian Arab Republic Government (SARG) continues its military offensive in Rif Damascus Governorate’s Eastern Ghouta region. As of April 6, the SARG had retaken the marjority of the region from armed groups Ahrar al-Sham (AAS) and Faylaq ar- Rahman (FAR). Eastern Ghouta’s Douma town and surrounding areas—controlled by armed group Jaish al-Islam (JAI)—remains the last opposition-held area, international media report.
• Since M arch 9, more than 133,000 people—including an estimated 50,000 opposition fighters and family members—have fled Eastern Ghouta, including through evacuations coordinated between AAS, FAR, the SARG, and the Government of the Russian Federation(GoRF). Oftheevacuees,morethan60percentarrivedateightcollective shelters in Rif Damascus, where relief organizations are providing emergency assistance, including food, medical, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assistanc.
• Operation Olive Branch—the Government of Turkey (GoT)-led military offensive in northwestern Syria—has displaced more than 137,000 people from Aleppo Governorate’s Afrin District to nearby areas of the governorate since January 20, the UN reports. Despite access constraints due to insecurity, humanitarian agencies are providing basic assistance to displaced populations. In March, two interagency humanitarian convoys reached Aleppo’s Tell Refaat sub-district, providing food commodities, emergency relief items, and health and nutrition supplies to at least 50,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Afrin. The UN continues to advocate for sustained access to Afrin and neighboring areas hosting populations affected by the offensive and for freedom of movement for people to return to their homes or move onward to their desired final destinations.