Red Cross chief urges access to Syria's Afrin

The head of the international Red Cross called today for access to civilians in the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin, warning Turkish aid workers lacked credibility after Ankara-led forces took the city.

In a major victory for Turkey's two-month operation against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, Turkish-led forces pushed into Afrin Sunday apparently unopposed, taking up positions across the city.

Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, stressed the need to help those remaining in the city, warning that accessing Afrin had already been difficult before the latest developments.

"Now with the combat operation we have a big number of people displaced," he told journalists in Geneva after a two-week trip to the Middle East, including war-ravaged Syria.

"We will have to find the best way possible to reach this population over the next couple of days and weeks," he said, adding: "I hope this is possible."
"This is a very fluid situation," he said, pointing out that "we don't know who stayed in Afrin."
"This is appreciated."