In Pictures

Gallery|Humanitarian Crises

Snow and cold weather grip war-torn Syria

Millions of Syrians are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance, aid workers say.

Syrian winter
Boys walk past damaged buildings covered with snow in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Published On 11 Jan 2016

Parts of Syria have been hit by snowfall and severe winter cold, exacerbating the difficulties for thousands of people already desperately seeking shelter from the country’s ongoing civil war. In neighbouring countries, where hundreds of thousands of Syrians have sought refuge, harsher weather is also setting in.

“Many of the refugees in… countries such as Jordan and Lebanon live in terrible conditions and are struggling to find warmth as temperatures fall,” said Robert Mardini, director for the Near and Middle East with the International Committee of the Red Cross. “They live with the uncertainty of not knowing what tomorrow will bring, or even if they will ever make it back home one day.” 

More than 12 million Syrians, nearly half of them children, are now in need of immediate humanitarian assistance, according to the ICRC.

Syrian winter
A boy waits for customers as he sells bread in the cold weather. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
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Syrian winter
A boy walks outside tents housing internally displaced people in Jerjnaz camp in Idlib province. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Syrian winter
Boys warm themselves around a heater inside a shop in Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Syrian winter
Boys drink traditional sahlab drinks as they walk along a street in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Syrian winter
Children look out from a tent in Jerjnaz camp for internally displaced people. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Syrian winter
Internally displaced people carry buckets of water in Jerjnaz camp. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
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Syrian winter
A girl carries her brother as she stands at the entrance of her tent in the camp. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Syrian winter
A woman holds her daughter as she walks outside a row of tents in the camp. [Khalil Ashaw/Reuters]
Syrian winter
A girl walks outside tents housing internally displaced people in Maar Zita in Idlib province. [Ammar Abdullah/Reuters]
Syrian winter
Internally displaced people fill buckets with water sourced from an underground well in Jerjnaz camp. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Syrian winter
Men walk in front of the ancient castle of Maaret al-Numan as snow covers the area in Idlib province. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]