UN Halts Humanitarian Aid Deliveries to Syria

On Tuesday, September 30, the United Nations announced that it has suspended humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria following an airstrike on one of its aid convoys. The UN humanitarian agency in Geneva stated that this decision was made 'for immediate security reasons.' Shortly after the Syrian government announced on Monday that it was ending a ceasefire with its opponents, a convoy carrying essential humanitarian aid was targeted by an airstrike near the besieged city of Aleppo. At least 12 people, including a Syrian Red Cross worker, were killed in the attack, and 18 trucks carrying aid were destroyed. While accusations have been directed at the Russian or Syrian air forces, Moscow has stated it will investigate the attack. Russia, the largest supporter of Bashar al-Assad's regime, has also declared that a ceasefire in Syria will only continue if the opposing rebels cease attacks on government forces. The United States had previously criticized the attack on the UN humanitarian convoy, stating that the destination of the convoy was known to both Russia and Syria, and Washington is re-evaluating its cooperation with Russia regarding Syria. Tens of thousands of people in Aleppo, which has long been divided between armed opponents and the Syrian government, are facing a crisis. The residents of this city, which is the second-largest in Syria and was once its economic hub, are in urgent need of medicine, food, water, and other basic necessities. Besides Aleppo, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed in the five-year war in the country. Hundreds of thousands have been injured, and millions are displaced and homeless as a result of the war and political crisis in Syria. Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, who is supported by Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah, has so far refused to step down from power to end this war.