American military forces have supplied 260 tons of humanitarian aid to the Lebanese capital of Beirut since an explosion rocked the city more than a week ago and killed or left more than 200 people missing, wounded another 6,000 and left 300,000 homeless, Stars & Stripes reported.
The shipments, which began arriving on Aug. 6 – two days after the blast – included half a million pounds of food, water and medical supplies delivered by C-17s of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command and Air Mobility Command from Qatar. On Tuesday, 12,000 pounds of medical kits were delivered from Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, U.S. Army Europe said, according to Stars & Stripes.
The devastation was believed to have been caused by a fire that ignited 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been left at a port warehouse for several years, despite officials being repeatedly warned about the danger.
The blast left a 460-foot crater, shook windows more than 150 miles away on the island of Cyprus and caused $15 billion in economic losses.
The United States said last week it would send $17 million in emergency aid, in addition to the $400 million it had already sent since September, and $300 million has been pledged by international donors.
The aid is being distributed via the Lebanese military, which the United States works closely with as a counter to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. The United States, the largest supplier of aid to Lebanon, has designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
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