HATAY, Turkey

The UN on Wednesday dispatched 30 truckloads more humanitarian aid via Turkey into northwestern Syria, a region where millions of people remain in need of assistance due to the civil war.

The trucks crossed into Idlib, Syria through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey’s southern Hatay province.

The aid will be distributed to needy residents of the Idlib province.

A civil war has ravaged Syria since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.

According to UN estimates, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced.

Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia.

The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire understandings, which the Assad regime and its allies have frequently violated.

​​​​​​​* Writing by Ahmet Gencturk in Ankara