The delivery of much-needed aid for earthquake victims in parts of Syria has been hampered by "issues with approval" by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* (HTS) that controls the northern zone, according to a United Nations spokesperson.
The terrorist group lodged in northwestern Syria and formerly known as al-Nusra Front** has been refusing to allow entry to shipments from areas of Syria controlled by the legitimate government of President Bashar al-Assad. While the Syrian government in Damascus announced last week that it was prepared to channel aid into the area, particularly hard-hit by the natural disaster, a source from the terrorist group, cited by media, insisted that aid to the north would be coming in from Turkiye.
"Turkey has opened all the roads and we won't allow the regime to take advantage of the situation to show they are helping," the source was cited by US media outlets as saying.
Meanwhile, a convoy of humanitarian aid from Syria's Kurdish-led, US-backed northeastern region was also reportedly turned back on February 9.
Driven by the urgency of the situation, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to allow UN aid deliveries to northwest Syria through two additional border crossings from Turkiye - Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra'ee - for a period of three months, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on February 11.
"Opening these crossing points - along with facilitating humanitarian access, accelerating visa approvals and easing travel between hubs - will allow more aid to go in, faster," Guterres stated.
The decision by the Syrian president came after a closed-door meeting with UN aid chief Martin Griffiths in Damascus, according to earlier media reports.
As countries and humanitarian agencies have been urging for crushing Western sanctions on Syria to be lifted in order to "allow access" for aid, Washington has refused to lift its Caesar Act sanctions or other restrictions against Syria. Part of the crippling unilateral sanctions, this particular piece of US legislation, dating to 2019, targets the Syrian government and businesses with severe sanctions.
Instead, according to State Department spokesman Ned Price, the US will be working with NGOs on the ground, who will "need to have access to be able to go back and forth across the border" to provide aid.
After 12 years of conflict, Syria continues to suffer due to destructive and self-serving Western policies implemented against it, spearheaded by the United States. When the Western-fueled civil war started in 2011, it fractured the country into factions that sought to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad. Although victory over Daesh*** was announced in 2017, counterterrorist missions, political settlement, and the restoration of the country have still been facing a plethora of challenges.
While Assad reasserted control over most of the country west of the Euphrates River, parts of Idlib Governorate have been occupied by Turkish-backed Islamist rebels. Furthermore, the government in Damascus has been deprived of the oil-rich eastern provinces, where US-backed Kurdish forces wield control.
*Hay'at Tahrir ash-Sham, (also known as Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Nusra Front, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, or al-Qaeda in Syria) is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other states.
** terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries.
***Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries