Crossing opens between government-held areas and HTS in Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – On Sunday, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS-formerly al-Nusra Front), announced the opening of a crossing between the opposition factions-controlled areas in northwestern Syria and the government-controlled areas in the western countryside of Aleppo, amid indications that it will be used to transfer international aid between the two sides.
The HTS Administration of Crossings said that two trucks carrying the logo of the government Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) organization entered the factions-controlled area, and another convoy is scheduled to enter within the coming hours of Monday.
The Administration explained that part of the warehouses of international humanitarian organizations will be transferred from government-controlled areas in Aleppo to the opposition-controlled one, and then the aid that arrives through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, north of Idlib, will be distributed to all areas according to an agreed plan.
The HTS Crossings Administration added that the opening of the Ma’aret al-Na’san-Miznaz crossing was “for relief purposes and to facilitate the entry of some international relief convoys to the Assad regime-controlled areas to reach our people there.”
Yesterday, a number of Ministers of the Syrian government met Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who is visiting the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The discussions between the ministers and Griffiths dealt with the situation of areas outside the government’s control and the situation of refugees throughout the Syrian geography, according to the government news agency SANA.
The UN aid enters Syria through the government or the Bab al-Hawa crossing in northwestern Syria, while the al-Ya’roubiyah crossing, northeast Syria, continues to be closed due to a Russian veto.
Last year, the HTS decided to open a crossing with the government-controlled areas, west of Aleppo, but its decision faced widespread popular rejection, where angry demonstrations erupted in Idlib countryside against the HTS, which confronted the protesters with gunfire, and led to deaths and injuries.