UN humanitarian operations in the northwestern Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and Hama have been largely suspended due to security concerns, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
"The fighting has also disrupted humanitarian assistance, with aid operations across parts of Aleppo, Idleb and Hama still largely suspended due to security concerns. OCHA stresses that aid personnel, facilities and assets must be protected," the organization said in a statement.
The statement added that despite the challenges, humanitarian organizations are mobilizing to assess people's needs and scale up their response where possible. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group (formerly known as the Nusra Front, banned in Russia) and a number of other armed groups launched a large-scale operation against the Syrian government on November 29, advancing from the north of the northwestern region of Idlib towards the cities of Aleppo and Hama. A day later, Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, came under the complete control of the militants for the first time since the beginning of the conflict in the country in 2011.
The Syrian army command announced on December 1 that the advance of the terrorists in the region of Hama had been stopped and government troops had launched a counteroffensive, taking control of a number of settlements previously seized by militants.
