Over 1 mln Syrians receive aid so far this year: UN official

Some 1,055,575 civilians living in hard-to-reach and besieged areas in Syria have received life-saving assistance since relief operations kicked off in February this year, the senior advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria reported Thursday.

"Altogether, 100 convoys have been able to reach besieged and hard-to-reach areas so far in 2016, compared to only 45 convoys in the whole of 2015," Jan Egeland indicated.

"We've reached 18 out of 18 besieged areas, so of course there has been noticeable progress because the diplomats have helped us in 2016," he added.

According to the latest UN figures, 68 percent of the population living in besieged locations have been provided with assistance since February.

Only 12 percent of those living in hard-to-reach areas have received much needed aid, however.

Ongoing fighting between warring factions is one of the main reasons why aid convoys are unable to access trapped populations, the diplomat explained.

This is the case in Madaya, Az-Zabadani, Foah and Kafraya which have not received assistance since April.

The Norwegian called for a new initiative to ensure that convoys are able to assist populations in need, in a bid to overcome the violence hampering relief operations in the country at war since 2011.

"A humanitarian truce could work in the following manner: we get a 72-hour notice to go and get a pause in the fighting for 48 hours. That is what it takes to have a life-line to places where people are on the brink of starvation," he said. Endit