U.N. to launch first airlift of aid to Syria via Iraq - UNHCR

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations is launching its first airlift of food and other aid supplies from Iraq to the Kurdistan region of northern Syria this week with permission from both governments, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.

The airbridge using commercial cargo Ilyushin 76 planes to Hassakeh, Syria, from Erbil, Iraq, will begin on Thursday and up to 12 flights are scheduled through Sunday, Amin Awad, director of the Middle East and North Africa Bureau of the UNHCR said.