Children are at risk of waterborne diseases in Syria’s capital Damascus where 5.5 million people have had little or no running water for two weeks, the United Nations said on Friday.
“There is a major concern about the risk of waterborne diseases among children,” UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac said.
The two main water sources for the capital — Wadi Barada and Ain-El-Fijah — are out of action because of “deliberate targeting,” the UN said on Dec. 29.
The Syrian regime and Hezbollah have bombed and shelled opposition-held villages in the Wadi Barada valley, despite a cease-fire.
Although some neighborhoods can get up to two hours of water every three or four days, many people have turned to buying water from unregulated vendors, with no guarantee of quality and at more than twice the regular price.
Jan Egeland, the humanitarian adviser to the UN Syria envoy, said on Thursday that denying people water or deliberately sabotaging water supplies was a war crime.
He said damage to the water facilities as very bad and major repairs would be needed. But a UN request to send repair teams faces “a whole web of obstacles” including approvals from the regime, the governor’s office and security committee, and the two warring sides, Egeland said.

Source: Arab News