The US military announced Thursday, August 6, the dispatch of three shipments of water, food and medicine to Lebanon, two days after the violent explosions that devastated Beirut and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
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General Franck McKenzie, head of the Central Command of the United States Army (Centcom), which covers the entire Middle East, on Thursday called Lebanese President Michel Aoun to inform him of the dispatch of this assistance, according to his spokesperson, Commander Bill Urban. Three C-17 military planes loaded with food, water and medical supplies are ready to depart, the spokesperson said in a statement.
"Horrible tragedy"
General McKenzie indicated that the United States was ready to continue providing assistance to the Lebanese during this " horrible tragedy ", in partnership with the Lebanese army, the United States embassy in Lebanon and the international aid agency. from the United States, USAid, according to the statement.
Caused on Tuesday by the explosion of tons of abandoned ammonium nitrate at the port of Beirut, the huge explosions, the worst experienced in Lebanon, left at least 137 dead and 5,000 injured. They have left hundreds of thousands of people homeless, while dozens of people are still wanted. They have destroyed neighborhoods and damaged others for miles around in a country already plunged into an unprecedented economic and social crisis and where nearly half of the inhabitants live in poverty.