Al Qaeda offshoot in Syria's northwest blocks aid from Damascus: Report

Earthquake aid from government-held parts of Syria into territories controlled by jihadist armed factions has been held up by "approval issues" with Al Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a United Nations spokesperson told Reuters on Sunday.

The Syrian government earlier said it was willing to send aid into the northern zone, which is largely held by the HTS and was devastated by the earthquake on 6 February.

A spokesperson for the UN humanitarian aid office told Reuters "there are issues with approval" by HTS, without giving further information.

A UN spokesperson in Damascus declined to comment, saying the UN "continues to work with relevant parties to have access to the area."

There was no immediate response from the HTS media office to a request for comment.

An HTS source in Idlib told Reuters the group would not allow any shipments from government-held parts of Syria and that aid would be coming in from Turkey to the north.

"Turkey has opened all the roads and we won't allow the regime to take advantage of the situation to show they are helping," the source said.

As of 11 February, 3,210 fatalities have been reported by Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) in Syrian territories held by armed factions. A further 2,063 have been reported dead in government-controlled areas.