AMMAN: The United Nations said Sunday it began delivering aid to hundreds of thousands of Syrians through the Jaber-Nassib border crossing with Jordan, which reopened two months ago.
In total, "369 trucks carrying 11,200 metric tons of... assistance for over 650,000 people" will be involved in the four-week operation, the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said.
The "exceptional" delivery, which amounts to one-month's worth of aid, would be carried out by six UN agencies and one international NGO, it added.
"This is a major logistical operation in an effort to mitigate the suffering of the Syrian people," said Anders Pedersen, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Jordan.
Among the immediate needs of Syrians were food, shelter, water and medical care, according to OCHA.
"We are working closely with our UN partners inside Syria to ensure this assistance reaches those who need it most," Pedersen added.
Syrian regime forces retook control of the border crossing from rebels in July.
Known as Jaber on the Jordanian side and Nassib in Syria, the crossing is a key Middle East trade route and its reopening in October after a three-year closure was seen as a boon for the economies of both countries.
Syria's civil war has killed more than 360,000 people since it started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
More than half the country's 23 million people have fled, with 6.6 million of those internally displaced and more than 5.6 million going abroad, according to UN figures.
UN launches aid delivery from Jordan to 650,000 Syrians
UN launches aid delivery from Jordan to 650,000 Syrians
- Known as Jaber on the Jordanian side and Nassib in Syria, the crossing is a key Middle East trade route
- Reopening in October after a three-year closure was seen as a boon for the economies of both countries
One killed in attack on oil tankers off Iraq, rescue operation ongoing: authorities
- Iraq’s oil ministry said in a statement on Thursday it had “deep concern” about incidents involving oil tankers in the Gulf, without providing details
BAGHDAD: An attack on two oil tankers near Iraq killed at least one crew member, authorities said on Thursday, as Iran carries out a campaign to disrupt global energy markets.
Farhan Al-Fartousi, from Iraq’s General Company for Ports, told state television that one crew member had been killed and 38 rescued while the “search continues for the missing.”
He did not specify the crew members’ nationalities or provide details on who was behind the attack, which occurred roughly 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the coast.
The Iraqi government’s media cell told national news agency INA that “two tankers were subject to sabotage.”
Iraq’s oil ministry said in a statement on Thursday it had “deep concern” about incidents involving oil tankers in the Gulf, without providing details.
“The safety of navigation in international maritime corridors and energy supply routes must remain free from regional conflicts,” the ministry added.
The Strait of Hormuz — the waterway carrying a fifth of the world’s oil — remains closed to almost all oil tankers, and Iran has vowed that not one liter of oil would be exported from the Gulf while its war with the United States and Israel continues.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that US forces have struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels more than a week into the Middle East war.
Images of a ship at sea with plumes of smoke rising from a huge fire, were broadcast by state television channel Al-Ikhbariya. AFP could not verify the images.
An employee at Iraq’s Basra oil terminal told AFP that it was unclear “whether it was a drone attack or explosive-laden boats.”
The Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) confirmed in a statement that two oil tankers were attacked, without providing details on how.
Maltese-flagged oil tanker ZEFYROS was attacked as it was preparing to enter the port of Khor Al-Zoubair, where it would have taken on board an additional 30,000 tons of liquid naphtha — primarily used in petrochemicals, SOMO said.
The second targeted vessel, SAFESEA VISHNU, was sailing under the Marshall Islands flag and was chartered by an Iraqi company, according to SOMO.
The incidents come just hours after the US embassy in Baghdad warned that Iran and Tehran-backed Iraqi armed groups might target US-owned oil facilities in Iraq.
