Thirteen aid trucks Friday headed from Turkey to the war-torn Syrian cities of Jarabulus and Al-Bab.
Coordinated by the provincial Education Directorate, 10 trucks were sent from the eastern Malatya province carrying stationery and educational supplies for the children and schools of the country.
Before the trucks left, Malatya Governor Mustafa Toprak said that thanks to the Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria, now civilians can return to their homes in Jarabulus and Al-Bab following their liberation from terrorist groups.
Operation Euphrates Shield aims to provide security, support U.S.-led coalition forces, and eliminate the terrorist presence along Syria's northern border with Turkey. The operation relies heavily on Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish artillery and air support.
Another three aid trucks full of stationery and educational supplies were also sent to the Jarabulus province on Friday from Turkey's southern Antalya province.
Turkey hosts more Syrian refugees than any other country in the world. The country has spent around $25 billion helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.
Since Turkish-led operations began last August to rid Syria's northern border area of terrorists, the Turkish government and many Turkish NGOs, including the Red Crescent, have been aiding refugees living not only in Turkey, but also in crisis-hit border areas inside Syria.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, more than a quarter-million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the United Nations.
The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, put the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.
