DAMASCUS
Many civilians in opposition-held parts of Syria have welcomed a sandstorm, which, they said, had – despite causing several deaths in neighboring Lebanon – brought a temporary respite from airstrikes by Syrian warplanes.
Although the sandstorm – which struck large swathes of the war-torn country on Monday – caused many to suffer respiratory problems, many Syrians in opposition-held areas said they preferred it to devastating air raids carried out by the Syrian regime.
“Dust and sand is better than barrel bombs and missiles,” Meyad al-Ghajar, an activist based in Syria’s opposition-held Idlib province, told Anadolu Agency, going on to describe the sandstorm as a “gift”.
Barrel bombs are improvised containers packed with shrapnel and explosives. Usually dropped from army helicopters, they are believed to have killed thousands of Syrians since the conflict began in early 2011.
According to al-Ghajar, the sandstorm also provided armed opposition groups with a brief opportunity to make advances against Syrian regime forces.
He urged opposition groups to take advantage of the situation by stepping up attacks on regime forces, which currently lack air cover due to the sandstorm.
But while opposition-held areas are enjoying a brief lull in airstrikes, hospitals have at the same time been overwhelmed by people suffering respiratory problems.
“We treated 60 cases of asphyxia on Monday as a result of the sandstorm,” Dr. Anas al-Shami, director of a hospital in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus, told Anadolu Agency.
Local health authorities, meanwhile, are urging members of the public to stay at home as long as the sandstorm persists.
Syria’s civil war, now in its fifth year, has killed at least 250,000 people, according to UN figures, and made the country the world's largest source of refugees.
