AL-TABKA, December 20. /TASS/. Russian servicemen have for the first time delivered humanitarian aid to residents of the Al-Tabki settlement in Syria's Raqqa province, which used to be the main stronghold of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization (banned in Russia).

The Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria told reporters that Russian servicemen delivered around 1,000 food sets with a total weight of around 5 tonnes.

Before the war, around 100,000 people lived in Al-Tabka. Now the settlement has a population of only 45,000 people. The town was seriously damaged in air strikes by the international coalition. At the same time, dozens of terrorists still hide in the town.

"Before the war, we lived well, we had everything. We grew wheat and earned good money. When the war started, people went bankrupt, equipment was destroyed, and we have nothing left," local resident Hsin Khalaf Ali said.

Since the start of the settlement process, Russian servicemen have carried out over 2,000 humanitarian operations in Syria, delivering almost 4,000 tonnes of food to people in need.