Syria eases aid flow but UN absent from Islamic State areas
BEIRUT - United Nations aid convoys cannot reach vast areas of Syrian territory under Islamic State control, a senior UN official told Reuters, although the Damascus government is allowing better access to besieged areas elsewhere.
To get food and medicine to areas ruled by Islamic State, the UN relies on partner humanitarian organisations such as the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and on tribal contacts. This has led to "huge gaps" in delivering aid and assessing needs, said Yacoub El Hillo, the UN coordinator in Syria.
El Hillo said in a telephone interview from Damascus that the UN has been absent from the Islamic State-controlled eastern provinces of Raqqa and Deir al-Zor since 2013.
