UN extends Syria cross-border aid by six months
By a vote of 15-0, the UN Security Council renewed the provision of aid from the Turkish-Syrian border through July.
The UN Security Council unanimously voted on Monday to extend a humanitarian aid operation into northwest Syria by another six months, ensuring deliveries routed from Turkey will continue reaching those whose survival depends on them.
The United Nations' most powerful body faced a Jan. 10 deadline to extend the operation that since 2014 has allowed the UN and its partners to send food, medicine and other critical supplies into rebel-held Syria.
The council voted 15-0 in favor of the extension, with Russia surprising analysts by joining the rest of the UNSC members in approving the resolution. The United States and its allies had warned that failure to reauthorize the aid operation would be catastrophic for the millions of impoverished Syrians who rely on it to meet their basic needs.
“Today's vote allows the Syrian people to breathe a sigh of relief,” said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “But while this lifeline will continue to operate, so much more could have been done and so much more still needs to be done.”
