UN relief agencies aid delivery to Syria

United Nations: Humanitarian aid supplies have been delivered to a number of areas in Syria over the past few days, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Thursday airlifted 31 metric tonnes of relief supplies from Damascus to Qamishly, including medicines, vaccines for 250,000 people, medical equipment and winter relief items, Nesirky said at a daily briefing here Friday. A UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) team was also able to deliver a limited number of food parcels in Yarmouk Thursday, but was forced to withdraw following reports of gunfire near the distribution point, he said. More than 1,370 people have so far been evacuated from Homs since Feb 7, Nesirky told reporters here earlier this month. Some 2,500 Syrians have been trapped in Homs without outside aid for nearly two years. The conflict has left more than 100,000 people dead as well as 9.3 million people within Syria and more than two million others outside the country in need of humanitarian assistance.