HATAY, Turkey 

The United Nations on Wednesday dispatched a total of 48 truckloads of humanitarian aid to Idlib, a northwestern Syrian province where millions of people are in desperate need of help.

Trucks entered the city through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey's southern Hatay province, bordering Idlib.

The supplies will be distributed to people struggling to live in Idlib and nearby rural areas.

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

Hundreds of thousands of people have since been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.

Idlib has been covered by several cease-fire deals since late 2018, deals frequently broken by the Assad regime and its allies.

It is currently home to 4 million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces throughout the war-weary country.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut