Feb 14 – Syria’s government has agreed to open two more border crossings to allow aid to be delivered to opposition-held northwestern areas devastated by earthquakes last week, according to the United Nations.
The earthquakes in Syria and Turkey are known to have killed almost 40,000 people in both countries.
Many Syrians have been angry at the lack of aid to their war-torn nation.
The government of President Bashar al-Assad has attributed the difficulties in the rescue efforts to the impact of Western sanctions imposed on the country.
But international aid groups say the key impediments are mismanagement by the Assad government and its refusal to engage with all areas of the country.
More than 5,700 people are now known to have been killed in Syria by the earthquakes on February 6. In Turkey, the death toll has already exceeded 31,000.
More than a million people have been made homeless in Turkey, and in Syria, this number could be much higher, aid organizations warn.
Rescue teams in both countries are now finalizing rescue operations in the vast area as the chances of finding more survivors are fading.
