13 Mln Syrians Need Aid Despite Violence Drop: UN

More than 13 million Syrians are in need of aid despite a relative drop in violence in their war-torn country in recent months, the United Nations said on Tuesday

Beirut, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Nov, 2017 ) :More than 13 million Syrians are in need of aid despite a relative drop in violence in their war-torn country in recent months, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Upwards of 330,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests, and the violence has displaced over half the population, both internally and abroad, as refugees.

"Entering the seventh year of the crisis, the scale, severity and complexity of needs across Syria remain overwhelming," the report by the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

"Some 13.1 million people in Syria require humanitarian assistance.

Of these, 5.6 million people are in acute need," OCHA added. The figure represents a slight drop, from 13.5 million people in need in 2016, according to the UN.

Earlier this year, government allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey signed a deal to set up four so-called "de-escalation zones" in Syria. The zones have brought a relative drop in violence across the country, though there has been an uptick in clashes and strikes in recent weeks in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus.

The implementation of the zones has also done little to increase humanitarian access, despite repeated calls from UN officials and others for sustained access to people in need.