Rescuers hit by US block on Syrian funds

A FREEZE on $200million (£147million) in aid to Syria by Donald Trump includes funds meant for the “White Helmets” group, which has been lauded for its rescue work in bombarded rebel-held territories, it has emerged.

The volunteer organisation, which conducts urban search and rescue in response to bombings and the evacuation of dangerous areas, said yesterday that the hold on funds that Washington instituted in March included “part of the work by Syria Civil Defence”, the official name for the White Helmets.

But it said that it had yet to feel the impact of the decision, which came as the US president announced that his country’s forces would exit Syria.

“We have not officially been informed of an end to the funding,” Raed Salah, head of the White Helmets, said. “There are no new changes to the Civil Defence’s work or its projects.”

The group says it is not directly funded by the US, but through civil society intermediaries.

After Mr Trump’s initial remarks on pulling out of Syria, the White House had said the US would keep a presence until Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) is completely defeated.