Libyan-UN Discrepancy over Number of Hurricane Victims

Fire and rescue teams search for survivors among the rubble of a collapsed building following floods that struck the city of Derna in eastern Libya, September 14, 2023 (AFP)
Fire and rescue teams search for survivors among the rubble of a collapsed building following floods that struck the city of Derna in eastern Libya, September 14, 2023 (AFP)
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Libyan-UN Discrepancy over Number of Hurricane Victims

Fire and rescue teams search for survivors among the rubble of a collapsed building following floods that struck the city of Derna in eastern Libya, September 14, 2023 (AFP)
Fire and rescue teams search for survivors among the rubble of a collapsed building following floods that struck the city of Derna in eastern Libya, September 14, 2023 (AFP)

Discrepancy emerged over the death toll from devastating floods in eastern Libya. While the government count remained close to 3,000 people, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that at least 11,300 victims died in the hurricane, in addition to 10,100 missing persons a week after the disaster.

Tawfiq Al-Shukri, spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent, denied on Sunday that the toll of the torrential rains that struck the city of Derna had reached 11,300, expressing his surprise that the association’s name was being included in such statistics.

“We did not announce these numbers,” he said, noting that such reports “are confusing, especially for the families of missing people.”

The Red Crescent also denied statements attributed to it about “the presence of 2,000 bodies in the Mediterranean Sea, swept away by torrents.”

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had also said that 10,100 people were still missing in Derna, while 170 people had died elsewhere in eastern Libya.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that nearly 4,000 people, who were killed in Libya’s floods, have been identified.

The WHO office in Libya quoted the organization’s representative, Dr. Ahmed Zouiten, as saying that local rescue teams were able, on Saturday evening, to find 450 survivors.

Meanwhile, the General Electricity Company announced, early Sunday, the restoration of power supply to part of the neighborhoods of the city of Derna, by connecting them to a generator temporarily.

The company pointed to completing maintenance work in the East Derna Distribution Department, and restoring electrical power to some homes located near Al-Jalaa and Al-Sahara School amid difficult circumstances.

Many areas in the affected cities suffer from a severe water shortage, in addition to a lack of relief aid and food, due to the focus on the city of Derna.



Damascus, Ankara Agree Natural Gas Deal for Syria

 A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Damascus, Ankara Agree Natural Gas Deal for Syria

 A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the power plant in Aleppo, Syria, April 15, 2025. (Reuters)

Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said Friday Damascus and Ankara had reached a deal for Türkiye to supply natural gas to the war-torn country via a pipeline in the north.

"I agreed with my Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar on supplying Syria with six million cubic meters of natural gas a day through the Kilis-Aleppo pipeline," Bashir said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

Kilis is near Türkiye’s border with Syria, which is north of the city of Aleppo.

The deal will "contribute to increasing the hours of electricity provision and improve the energy situation in Syria", Bashir added.

Syria's authorities, who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, are seeking to rebuild the country's infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.

The conflict badly damaged Syria's power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day.

Bayraktar told the private CNN-Turk broadcaster late Thursday that "we will provide natural gas to Syria from Kilis within the next three months".

"This gas will be used in electricity generation at the natural gas power plant in Aleppo," he said, confirming an expected daily flow of six million cubic meters.

In March, Qatar said it had begun funding gas supplies to Syria from Jordan, in a move aimed at addressing electricity production shortages and improving infrastructure.

That announcement said the initiative was set to generate up to 400 megawatts of electricity daily in the first phase, with production capacity to gradually increase at the Deir Ali station southeast of Damascus.

Both Türkiye and Qatar have close ties with Syria's transitional government, and were the first two countries to reopen their embassies in Damascus after Assad's ouster.

Both have also urged the lifting of sanctions on Syria.

In January, Syria's electricity chief said two power ships were being sent from Türkiye and Qatar to increase supply after the United States eased sanctions, allowing fuel and electricity donations to Syria for six months.

Last month, Britain said it was lifting energy production sector sanctions, a move Damascus said would "directly contribute to improving" Syrians' living conditions.