HAMA (Syria). July 21 (Interfax) - Residents of the Hama governorate's Maardas village, which saw fighting between Syrian government forces and militants of the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist group (banned in Russia) as recently as several weeks ago, have received humanitarian aid from Russian servicemen of the center for reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria, center official Alexander Vorontsov said.
"The center for reconciliation is resuming its work in the Hama governorate. Today, after the end of hostilities, we are in the populated locality of Maardas. We have delivered 800 food rations to it. The food aid has been provided because hostilities ended here recently... As we drove through this populated locality, we noticed that [the village] is now being rebuilt. People are working to help the area look better. It is difficult to describe in words what harm militants did to this place...," Vorontsov said.
The village of Maardas changed hands several times, he said, adding that terrorists had been forced to retreat to a distance of around 15 kilometers - deep inside the neighboring governorate of Idlib, he said.
Military doctors arrived in the village along with the Russian center's servicemen.
"We have seen some 40-50 patients today. Almost half of them are children. Most of them have skin diseases... different types of arthritis, diabetes. A large number of people suffer from high blood pressure. Some people have joint diseases. All of them have received assistance... The quality of food here is low, sanitary conditions are just awful. Probably, they had had no medical aid for four years," endoscopy specialist Alexei Luchshev said.
The armed conflict in Syria broke out in March 2011 and, according to UN estimates, has claimed the lives of more than 220,000 people.
The Russian Supreme Court designated Islamic State as a terrorist organization and banned its activities in Russian territory.