Half of Syrian population urgently needs aid: UN

Half of Syria's population, some 9.3 million people, are in urgent need of aid, United Nations secretary general has said.

The comments from Ban Ki-moon came while speaking at a donor conference in Kuwait promoting the UN's largest ever appeal for a single issue.

According to the BBC, the meeting aimed to raise 6.5 billion dollars had secured 2.4 billion dollars in pledges by the end of Wednesday.

Ban told the Kuwait conference the conflict had 'set back Syria years, even decades' and that it was 'vital for this region and our world that the burden is shared,' the report said.

Some 6.5 million people are now displaced inside Syria. More than 2.3 million have registered as refugees outside Syria.

The UN said more than 100,000 people have died since the uprising began in 2011.