The UN Secretary-General has welcomed the decision on Monday by the Syrian president to open two further crossing points on the Turkish border to allow more aid into the stricken northwest of the country.
Only a single crossing point - Bab al-Hawa - has been open to humanitarians since the 6 February earthquakes struck across the border region of southern Türkiye and northwest Syria, which has been in the grip of civil war for the past 12 years, and is the last remaining region partly under the control of opposition forces.
.@antonioguterres welcomed the decision by the President of #Syria to open the two crossing points of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra'ee from #Türkiye to north-west Syria to allow for the timely delivery of humanitarian aid. Full Statement: https://t.co/HKc9MajYyn
UN_Spokesperson
"I welcome the decision today by President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to open the two crossing points of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra'ee from Türkiye to northwest Syria for an initial period of three months to allow for the timely delivery of humanitarian aid", António Guterres said in a statement.
As hope fades of bringing more survivors out alive from the ruins, in Syria, more than 4,300 deaths had been reported in the northwest on Sunday. Deaths in Türkiye have reportedly now exceeded 31,000.
'Utmost urgency'
It's clear that "delivering food, health, nutrition, protection, shelter, winter supplies and other life-saving supplies to all the millions of people affected is of the utmost urgency", added Mr. Guterres.
"Opening these crossing points - along with facilitating humanitarian access, accelerating visa approvals and easing travel between hubs", he added, "will allow more aid to go in, faster."
Lifting gear, medicines needed
Humanitarians working to save lives in Syria and Türkiye made an urgent appeal on Monday for more heavy machinery to remove rubble and debris in towns and villages shattered by last week's earthquakes, together with medical supplies.
That includes ambulances and medicine, shelter and non-food items, including heating, emergency food supplies and so-called WASH assistance - water, sanitation and hygiene, the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told correspondents in New York at the regular daily briefing.
UN aid coordination agency OCHA said that Harim, Afrin and Jebel Saman are the worst-affected districts in northwest Syria, and that more than 50 trucks loaded with aid from five UN agencies have so far arrived via the sole international crossing at Bab al-Hawa, from Türkiye.
UN continuing to mobilize
"The UN continues to mobilize emergency teams and relief operations", Mr. Dujarric stressed.
At Türkiye's request, a UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team with a total of 50 members has been deployed to the aid hub of Gaziantep and to three other hubs in the affected area to support the coordination of the International Urban Search and Rescue Operations, he added.
An UNDAC liaison team to Türkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Ministry, who are leading the response, has also been established in Ankara.
Speaking from there to UN News on Monday, UNDAC's Winston Chang said that the scale and the damage sustained inside the disaster area in the south of the country was "one of the worst we have seen."
