Iraq News

Syria approves aid convoys to all 19 besieged areas: UN

Syria has given approval for humanitarian convoys to reach all of the country's 19 besieged areas by the end of the month, the UN said Thursday (June 9th), while warning that "approval... does not mean delivery", AFP reported.

"We were informed by our team in Damascus that basically there has been a permission, an approval," UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said, stressing that Syria has given such approvals in the past before ultimately blocking convoys.

He made the comments after the weekly meeting of the Syria humanitarian taskforce, which has for months been trying to boost aid supplies to millions of Syrians in need.

The taskforce has faced pressure to start air-dropping aid into besieged areas.

De Mistura said air drops "are still an option", but voiced hope that a surge of aid deliveries in the coming weeks would make dangerous and costly air drops unnecessary.

"The proof is in facts, concrete facts, and that means deliveries," he said.

The UN envoy added that he wanted to see clear movement on those deliveries "in the next few hours", including to Daraya which has been under regime siege since late 2012.

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