U.N. chief to Security Council: 'We cannot give up on people of Syria'

By Trend

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the Security Council on Monday to extend its approval of aid deliveries from Turkey to millions of people in need in northwest Syria, telling the body: "We cannot give up on the people of Syria," Trend reports citing Reuters.

Guterres said that in the past year the United Nations had carried out five such deliveries - known as cross-line - into the opposition controlled northwest, but it was not "at the scale needed to replace the massive cross-border response."

"I strongly appeal to the members of the council to maintain consensus on allowing cross-border operations," he said. "It is a moral imperative to address the suffering and vulnerability of 4.1 million people in the area who need aid and protection."

Guterres said 80% of those in need in northwest Syria are women and children. Some 800 trucks a month deliver aid from Turkey under the U.N. operation, which Guterres asked be extended for another year.