Syria: First Saudi humanitarian aid plane in over a decade lands in Aleppo

A Saudi plane loaded with aid for the victims of the deadly earthquake landed this Tuesday morning, February 14, in Aleppo (north), for the first time in more than ten years, according to the Syrian Ministry of Transport.

Planes loaded with humanitarian aid have followed one another since the earthquake which killed more than 35,000 people in Syria and Turkey on February 6, breaking the diplomatic isolation of the Syrian government.

"

," a transport ministry official told AFP, who requested anonymity.

The Saudi plane is loaded with 35 tons of food, according to the official Syrian agency SANA.

Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, was devastated by the earthquake.

Isolated since the civil war

The last Saudi flight to land in Syria dates back to February 2012, according to the SANA agency.

President Bashar al-Assad has been ostracized by several Arab countries since he was expelled from the Arab League at the end of 2011, after the start of the popular uprising against the regime which degenerated into a civil war.

Read alsoEmmanuel Macron tempted by a rapprochement with Bashar el-Assad

Saudi Arabia severed ties with the Syrian president in 2012 and backed rebels early in the war, which is soon entering its twelfth year.

Riyadh has promised aid to government-held and rebel-held areas in the northwest, also hard hit by the earthquake that killed more than 3,600 people in the country.

The Aleppo region was hard hit by the earthquake and more than 200,000 people are homeless there, according to the World Health Organization.

The war in Syria has claimed more than half a million lives and forced nearly half the population from their homes.

Even before the earthquake, the majority of the population needed humanitarian assistance.