Syria to Expel Three U.N. Aid Workers

Syria has decided to expel three U.N. aid workers, in a new setback for international agencies struggling to bring desperately-needed relief to civilians in the war-torn country.

Two of the workers are from the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the third is an employee of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday.

"This could have a major impact on the vital aid operations in terms of our ability to carry out operations at the local level and also on negotiations on the safe passage of aid delivery," Dujarric told reporters.

The decision came a day before U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura is due in Damascus for talks with senior Syrian officials on his plan to freeze fighting in the northern city of Aleppo.

Dujarric said no reason had been given for the decision to expel the aid workers and he reiterated that the relief workers are neutral in the conflict.

"U.N. humanitarian aid is neutral, impartial. The only aim of our humanitarian work is to bring support and aid to the civilian populations who have been suffering for these past years in the conflict in Syria," he said.

A total of 12.2 million Syrians are in need of aid, according to the United Nations, but 40 percent of these, or 4.8 million, are difficult to reach.

OCHA spokeswoman Amanda Pitt earlier said the U.N. agency was seeking information from the Syrian government on the fate of their two staff.

"Two OCHA staff have been asked to leave. That is what we understand but we are seeking further information and confirmation of this from the government," Pitt said.

She said the two employees were field officers working on aid operations inside Syria, and it remained unclear if they had left the country.

The United Nations has repeatedly accused the government of blocking humanitarian aid deliveries while no food aid has reached areas controlled by the Islamic State group since December.