HATAY, Turkey

The United Nations on Friday dispatched 27 trucks of humanitarian aid to the civil war-torn Syrian province of Idlib. 

The trucks passed Turkey’s Cilvegozu border gate in the southern Hatay province. The aid will be distributed to those in-need in Idlib and its rural parts.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests.

According to the UN on Thursday, more than 230 civilians have lost their lives, more than 330,000 have fled in just six weeks, and three million more remain at risk.

Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be expressly prohibited.

The regime, however, has consistently broken the terms of the ceasefire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone. 

*Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur