India sends over 23 tons of humanitarian aid to Syria

India delivered more than 23 tons of humanitarian aid to earthquake-hit Syria on February 12, said Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for the Indian Foreign Ministry.

"The seventh Operation Dost flight reached Syria with over 23 tonnes of relief material, including generator sets, solar lamps, emergency and critical care medicines, and disaster relief consumables," TASS quotes him as tweeting. 

The cargo was received at the Damascus airport by Deputy Minister of Local Administration and Environment Moutaz Douaji.

The Indian Air Force plane will then take off to Türkiye to deliver medical supplies and other materials for the Indian rescuers operating in the disaster area.

New Delhi started Operation Dost to provide aid to Syria and Türkiye within several hours from the earthquake.

There’s a total of more than 250 Indian specialists there now. More than 135 tons of humanitarian cargo has been sent to Türkiye, and a previous plane to Syria delivered 6 tons of emergency aid.

Powerful 7.7-and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes rocked Türkiye's Kahramanmaras province in the country’s southeast on February 6, nine hours apart from each other. The tremors, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, were felt in 10 provinces as well as in neighboring countries, of which Syria was hardest hit. According to latest reports, the death toll has surpassed 24,000 people, while over 80,000 were injured. The Syrian Health Ministry said earlier 1,408 people are currently listed as dead and 2,341 as injured.