UN suspends Syria ground operations after convoy attack

All UN humanitarian operations on Syrian territory are to remain suspended following an attack against an aid convoy, said a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday.

The decision comes following an airstrike on a convoy of trucks coordinated by the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) in Aleppo province on Monday that left 18 vehicles destroyed and at least one aid worker dead, according to the Red Cross NGO.

OCHA spokesmen Jens Laerke said the situation surrounding the incident remained unclear, but that operations involving terrestrial aid convoys would be suspended for the time being, EFE news reported.

The aid convoy was scheduled to attend to civilians in rebel-held areas of Syria, something contested by various factions supportive of President Bashar Al Assad.

The incident came at the end of a week-long ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia.

--IANS

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