Syrian rescuers, known as White Helmets, recover bodies in Zardana, in the mostly rebel-held northern Syrian Idlib province, following air strikes in the area late on June 7, 2018. AFP / OMAR HAJ KADOUR
WASHINGTON: The United States will release $6.6 million to a Syrian group that rescues civilians caught up in fighting and a United Nations group that monitors human rights abuses, the State Department said.
The funds will go to the Syrian Civil Defense fund, commonly known as the White Helmets and the U.N. International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism, which collects and analyzes evidence of violations of international human rights laws, it said.
As the Syrian civil war enters its eighth year, global experts have investigated reported use of chemical weapons by Syria's government. More than 500,000 people have been killed in the fighting, which has drawn in global powers and neighboring states.
