Aid Groups Warn of Grave Consequences if Syria Mandate Stops

Workers carry boxes of humanitarian aid near Bab al-Hawa crossing at the Syrian-Turkish border, in Idlib governorate, Syria, June 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mahmoud Hassano

Unless the UN Security Council extends its approval of aid deliveries to opposition-held parts of northwest Syria next month, food supplies will be depleted by September in the region that is home to some 4 million people, aid agencies warned Thursday.

Concerns have been rising in recent months that the situation will get worse in Syria’s Idlib province because Russia may force international aid for the northwest to be delivered through parts of Syria under the control of its ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad.