UN chief: Syrian president agrees to open two more border crossings to help quake-hit people

The United Nations secretary-general says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to open two more border crossings to facilitate relief aid delivery to the northern part of the quake-hit country, which is held by militants.

Antonio Guterres announced the development on Monday after Assad approved the use of Bab al-Salam and al-Raee crossings, which link Turkey to northwestern Syria, for outreach purposes.

In line with the presidential decree, the crossings would be opened for an initial period of three months to allow for the timely delivery of humanitarian aid.

In addition to authorizing transit through the border passages, the UN chief said, “facilitating humanitarian access, accelerating visa approvals and easing travel between hubs will allow more aid to go in, faster.”

The announcement was made after the UN Security Council held a closed-door session on the humanitarian situation in Syria following the quake.

“Syria supports the entry of humanitarian aid into the region through all possible crosspoints,” said Bassam Sabbagh, Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, while commenting on Assad’s decision in a press briefing following the council’s session.

The 7.8-magnitude quake that hit Turkey and neighboring Syria last Monday has so far claimed over 37,000 lives.

The biggest part of the fatalities that have been caused in Syria, have occurred in the territory, which is being held by militant groups, including Takfiri terrorist outfits.

The approval issued by Assad came after the UN lamented that an anti-government group, which has been designated as terrorist by the international community, was preventing aid consignments from being delivered to the quake-hit areas in the northern part of Syria.

A spokesman for the UN’s humanitarian aid office said on Sunday that there were “issues with approval” by the group, which was identified as the terrorist outfit, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Also on Sunday, Reuters quoted an HTS source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as confirming that the terror outfit will not let in shipments from government-held parts of Syria, alleging, “We won’t allow the regime to take advantage of the situation to show they are helping.”