U.N. plans first aid airlift to Syria from Iraq as winter grips

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations' first relief airlift to Syria from Iraq will deliver food and winter supplies to the mostly Kurdish northeast over the next 10 days with the permission of both governments, U.N. aid agencies said on Tuesday.

The airbridge, using Ilyushin-76 commercial cargo planes flying to Hassakeh from Arbil in northern Iraq, will begin on Thursday. Up to 12 flights are scheduled through Sunday, said Amin Awad, director of the U.N. refugee agency's Middle East and North Africa Bureau.