The US State Department authorized the sending of humanitarian aid to Syria within six months of the earthquakes on Monday, DPA and Agerpres reported. Until now, such activities have been prohibited by the sanctions imposed by Washington on the regime in Damascus.

Since Monday, Syrian government officials have appealed to the international community to lift sanctions, saying they have led to a lack of resources and heavy equipment to search for victims in the ruins. The number of people killed as a result of earthquakes in Syria, in particular in the rebel-controlled northwestern territories, has reached almost 3,400 people.

“As international allies and humanitarian partners mobilize to help those affected, I want to make clear that US sanctions on Syria will not stand in the way of efforts to save the lives of the Syrian people,” said Wally Adeyemo, US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

The authorization expands current humanitarian norms “so that those providing aid can focus on what is most needed: saving lives and rebuilding,” he added.

However, the Foreign Ministry in Damascus called the move “misleading” and asked the United States to end “unilateral coercive measures” and “stop hostile practices and violations of international law.” In a statement sent to the official SANA news agency, the ministry “called on international countries and organizations (…) to demand the unconditional lifting of the inhumane, immoral and illegal blockade imposed on the Syrian people.”

In Syria, the civil war has been going on for 12 years, and the sanctions of the USA and the European Union make it difficult to export to this country.

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