BREAKING NEWS

UN asks Syria to ensure truce for aid convoy

BEIRUT - The UN humanitarian coordinator in Syria has appealed to the government to commit to a ceasefire in eastern Ghouta on Thursday to let in an aid convoy containing medical supplies that were stripped from a delivery on Monday.

The United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator in Syria Ali al-Za'tari sent the letter to Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Tuesday according to a copy seen by Reuters.

An aid convoy reached the besieged, rebel-held enclave near Damascus on Monday for the first time since the start of a massive government bombing campaign and assault to recapture it in mid-February.

It was only the second convoy so far in 2018 to reach the area, where the United Nations says 400,000 residents were already running out of food and medicine even before the bombing campaign began.