UN calls on Assad regime to extend deadline for aid delivery into the earthquake-affected areas
The spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jens Laerke, called on Assad regime to extend the deadline for post-earthquake aid delivery into the affected areas in northwest Syria through Bab al-Salam and Al Ra’ee crossings.
Reuters quoted Laerke as saying that “talks with Assad regime were constructive, but he did not show an approval for the extension as his government did not respond to questions sent by Reuters via e-mail.
On Friday, Amnesty International Organization called on the UN to resume humanitarian aid delivery through Bab al-Salama and al-Ra’ee crossings, regardless of Assad regime’s approval or having a permission from UN Security Council.
The deadline for humanitarian aid delivery through al-Ra’ee and Bab al-Salama crossings, which was approved by the Assad regime for three months, starting from 13 February 2023, a week after the earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northwest Syria, killing more than 50,000 people in the two countries, ends on Saturday.
Bab al-Hawa crossing has been in effect under the Security Council mandate since 2014, to deliver aid to millions of people in need in the northwest Syria without the need for Assad regime’s approval.
