Algerian Red Crescent launches a Humanitarian Aid Convoy to Kidal

A humanitarian aid convoy organized by the Algerian Red Crescent for the benefit of the refugee camps in Kidal region Northern Mali was launched on Saturday in the city of Bourdj Badji Mokhtar, in Adrar (southern Algeria).

The convoy carried 50 tons of foodstuffs and medicines, as the air forces took over the task of transporting the aid from Boufarik military airport, to the city of Bordj Badji Mokhtar, and allocated two aircrafts for this purpose. While the aid will be transferred to Kidal by land, by a convoy of trucks.

The Algerian aid convoy will pass a distance of 400 km to reach Kidal amid difficult weather conditions, ‭due to ‭ ‬ ‭ ‬ severe heat, ‭and the rugged routes. ‬

Head of the Red Crescent convoy to Kidal, Dr. Adel Ghabouli, told Echorouk; “It is the first time, the aid of the Algerian Red Crescent to Kidal is transfered. Last week we launched an aid convoy to GAO, as we went there from the capital, Bamako, and previously we send a similar convoy for the refugees in Timbuktu‮”‭. ‬

The armed conflict in Mali, led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people, to different areas in the north of the country, as Mali Red Cross counted 200.000 citizen who fled to neighboring countries, due to violence, leading to a real humanitarian catastrophe fact, because of the lack of supplies, water, and the spread of diseases.

What added more sufferance to the situation is the deteriorating security situation, which affects the humanitarian relief efforts. In this context, Dr. Ghbouli asserted that the Algerian delegation stood last week in Gao on the spread of dangerous epidemics, causing three deaths of cholera, and 50 cases of infection with the ‭ ‬ disease, ‭in light of the lack of drugs and medical staff. ‬