ICRC OFFERS HELP TO DISPLACED BOSNIAN SERBS

ZAGREB, Nov 8 (Hina) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) offers help to displaced civilians who have sought shelter in Serb-controlled areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The ICRC, in a statement issued last evening, underlined that emergency surgical assistance and access to better heating were of the most urgent requirements of more than 8,000 displaced civilians who were now sheltered in the Banja Luka region. Yesterday the ICRC delivered 2.5 metric tonnes of medical material, sufficient for the treatment of some 200 war-wounded, to the Doboj hospital. Medical supplies had been also handed to the staff at the Bosanski Novi health centre and the Banja Luka hospital had been provided with surgical equipment, the statement read. During the past week, the ICRC delivered first aid and surgical material for the treatment of war wounded in Kljuc, Sanski Most and Srbobran, as well as to the hospitals in Prijedor and Bosanski Petrovac. Emergency relief assistance had been also given to displaced people who arrived in Sipovo from Kupres, according to the statement. An ICRC engineer was also investigating the possibility of repairing the central heating system in the Sipovo hotel, where several hundred displaced were currently housed in cramped conditions. After assessing the needs of some 5,000 civilians who fled to Bosanski Petrovac, ICRC delegates distributed blankets, soap and candles, the statement read. (hina) jas mms 081214 MET nov 94