UNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 (NNN-XINHUA) – A UN spokesman said yesterday that, 49 UN aid trucks transited the reopened Bab al-Hawa border crossing, from Türkiye into north-west Syria, to deliver relief to Idlib, this week.
Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said, five truckloads of aid from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) went through Bab al-Hawa yesterday, and another six from IOM took the Bab al-Salam crossing route. Bab al-Hawa reopened last Tuesday.
“Additional truck movements and missions by UN personnel are planned in the coming days,” Dujarric said. “The UN cross-border operation remains a lifeline to people in north-west Syria. Each month, we and our partners reach an average of 2.6 million people, with critical assistance and protection services.”
The spokesman said that, so far this year, more than 4,000 trucks with UN aid have crossed from Türkiye to north-west Syria, using the Bab al-Hawa, Bab al-Salam and al Ra’ee border crossings. UN personnel completed 224 cross-border missions altogether.
The key Bab al-Hawa crossing was shuttered to UN convoys, after the UN Security Council failed to reach an accord on a resolution in July, to re-authorise the Syria cross-border humanitarian aid delivery mechanism through the crossing.
The United Nations and Syria worked out an agreement last month, allowing for Tuesday’s resumption of relief convoys through Bab al-Hawa.– NNN-XINHUA
