Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to allow the United Nations to deliver aid to Syria through two new border crossings from Turkey within three months, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Monday at a closed-door meeting of the Security Council, diplomats said.

However, the White Helmets humanitarian organization, which operates in areas controlled by the Syrian opposition, is reacting to Assad’s control of humanitarian flows to northern Syria, saying it gives him free political gain.

Mr. Griffiths met with Assad in Damascus a week after the devastating earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria and killed more than 37,000 people.

The response was immediate from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who hailed Syrian President Assad’s decision to open two new checkpoints between Turkey and northwestern Syria for three months to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to earthquake victims, according to the announcement.

“I welcome the decision of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to open the two checkpoints Bab al-Salam and Al-Ray between Turkey and northwestern Syria for an initial period of three months,” Guterres said.

Areas of northwestern Syria are controlled by anti-regime forces. “It is shocking and we have lost them because of the behavior of the UN,” White Helmets chief Raed al-Saleh told Reuters, echoing the sentiment of many Syrians in the opposition-held enclave that has been largely destroyed by earthquakes. February 6.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.