An Istanbul-based Turkish aid agency yesterday continued the daily distribution of 500,000 loaves of bread to war-weary Syrian families.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Selim Tosun, the Humanitarian Relief Foundation's (IHH) media officer for Syria Operations, said bread is basic food in Syria. He said the foundation bakes bread at its bakeries in Turkey's southern provinces of Kilis and Hatay near the border with Syria.

"Together with 22 personnel, we work day and night. Sacks of flour provided by donors are turned into bread and sent to needy families. Some 500,000 loaves of bread are distributed to families in Idlib, the central city of Afrin and Turkmen Mountain," he added. Tosun said they had delivered some 270 million loaves of bread to families in Syria in 2018.

The IHH has been carrying out aid projects in war-torn Syria since the country's devastating conflict began in 2011, when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity. Since Afrin's liberation in March last year through Turkey's Operation Olive Branch, the aid agency has distributed hot meals to an estimated 1 million Syrians. In January 2018, Turkey launched the operation to purge Afrin of the PKK's Syrian affiliate, the People's Protection Units (YPG), and Daesh terrorists.