The new Bab al-Salam crossing point allowed the first UN convoy carrying humanitarian aid for earthquake victims to enter rebel-held areas in the northwest of the country.
The first UN aid convoy crossed the Turkish-Syrian border through a new checkpoint on Tuesday, two UN officials said. So far, the organization has sent more than 50 humanitarian aid trucks through another checkpoint, Bab al-Hawa.
On Monday, the UN said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had authorized the use of two other checkpoints, Bab al-Salam and al-Rai, for an initial period of three months.
A spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told Reuters that the UN agency “became the first humanitarian organization to send 11 trucks through the Bab el Salam checkpoint”.
He also noted that IOM had already sent six trucks via Bab al-Hawa on Tuesday.
“The earthquake relief includes new kits with medical supplies, tents and emergency supplies,” an IOM spokesperson said, adding that 15 more aid trucks would pass through the two same checkpoints on Friday.
The UN has acknowledged shortcomings in its initial response to the earthquake in the hard-hit north-west region, where an estimated 4 million people needed humanitarian assistance even before the quake.
On Tuesday, the organization requested around $400 million to meet urgent humanitarian needs over the next three months, noting that 8.8 million Syrians have been affected, mostly in the northwest of the country.
More than 5,814 people have died in Syria, including at least 4,400 in the northwest of the country, according to Reuters data compiled from reports by Syrian state media and United Nations agencies.
