Aid convoy enters Syrian rebel area ahead of key UN vote

IDLIB, Syria (AP) — A humanitarian convoy has delivered urgently needed supplies to Syria’s last rebel stronghold, a day before the U.N. Security Council is set to vote on a resolution that would determine whether aid deliveries to the war-stricken territory can continue. The convoy of 18 trucks on Sunday entered the area of Idlib through frontlines held by Syrian government forces. Russia, which is allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad, has moved to replace humanitarian aid crossing the Turkish border into Syria with convoys that pass through government-controlled areas. In the early years of the war, Turkey strongly supported Syria’s rebels. Syria’s conflict has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million since it began in March 2011.