AANES warns of the ongoing closure of the Tal Kojer border crossing

Shafaq News / The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria warned of the continued closure of a border crossing linking Iraq with northeastern Syria.

The administration said in a statement that the regions of northern and eastern Syria suffer from a difficult humanitarian situation, noting, "great efforts have been made to obtain international support."

The statement added that the Tal Kojer border crossing is an essential artery for life in north and east Syria, and the decision to close it came with a joint Russian-Chinese veto on June 8, 2020, supporting the siege policies pursued against the people in the region.

The United Nations has appealed to the U.N. Security Council to extend a long-running cross-border aid operation into war-torn Syria, which is due to expire on July 10, warning that a failure to do so would be devastating for millions of people.

The 15-member Security Council is negotiating a resolution, drafted by Ireland and Norway, that aims to authorize aid deliveries through two crossings: one from Turkey and one from Iraq.

Council veto-power Russia - an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - has questioned the importance of the cross-border aid operation, arguing that aid can be delivered to northern Syria from the capital Damascus.