Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
GENEVA (AP) - U.N. officials say relief agencies will airlift aid to Syria from Iraq for the first time using a new "humanitarian corridor."
Amin Awad, head of the U.N. refugee agency's Middle East and North Africa bureau, says at least seven flights from Irbil, Iraq, are planned this week to reach Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province near Turkey's border.
He told reporters Tuesday the $4-million in airlifts are "extraordinary measures" needed because armed groups control the roads between Iraq and Syria.
U.N. envoy Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement that Iraq and the U.N. agreed on the corridor so U.N. agencies can resupply warehouses in Syria with food, medical kits and educational supplies from reserves in Iraq.
Such corridors exist from Syria's other neighbors, but this is the first from Iraq.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
