Russian military vehicles patrol as Syrian Kurdish health workers test travelers arriving from Damascus in Qamishli, Syria, Monday, April 6.
Syria's northeast Kurdish region is patrolled by the warring parties of Turkey and Russia amid the coronavirus epidemic.
Meanwhile, Turkey is being accused of "weaponizing" water against Syrian Kurds. Ankara is dismissing the accusation, however, as a "smear campaign."
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch warned Tuesday that failure by "Turkish authorities" to ensure adequate water supplies to Kurdish-held areas in northeast Syria is compromising humanitarian agencies' ability to prepare and protect vulnerable communities in the COVID-19 pandemic."
Syrian rebel forces backed by Ankara operate the water station that serves territory held by the Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG, which is designated as terrorists by Ankara.
In October, Syrian rebels backed by Turkish forces launched an offensive against the YPG, taking control of a large swathe of territory. Ankara claims the Kurdish militia is affiliated with the PKK, which is fighting a decade's long insurgency inside Turkey for greater minority rights.
HRW warns the pumping station is of critical importance to hundreds of thousands of people.
The United Nation’s top envoy for Syria warned that the coronavirus could be a new “calamity” for the war-torn country and that a nationwide cease-fire must be implemented immediately.
