New York, 14 February 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The UN says almost $400 million is needed for emergency humanitarian aid for Syria following devastating earthquakes along the war-torn country's border with Turkey.

The money "will help secure desperately needed, life-saving relief for nearly 5 million Syrians – including shelter, health care, food and protection," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday while appealing to UN member countries for donations.

Guterres also confirmed that the Bab al-Salam and al-Ra'ee border crossings have been opened as authorized by the Syrian government on Monday. He said a convoy of 11 trucks is on its way to Bab al-Salam to bring life-saving aid to Syria.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opened two more border crossings into Turkey to allow international aid deliveries. The Bab al-Salam and al-Ra'ee are supposed to remain open for three months.

Until now, only the Bab al-Hawa crossing has been authorized to open by the Syrian government in Damascus. The border crossings are in areas controlled by anti-regime rebels.

Also on Tuesday, a Saudi plane loaded with aid landed in the Syrian city of Aleppo, carrying 35 tons of food aid, according to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency.

The delivery of aid from Saudi Arabia to regime-controlled areas of Syria came despite Saudi Arabia's long-time support for rebels in the lengthy civil war.

"This is the first time a Saudi plane has arrived in regime-controlled areas in more than 12 years,” the British-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Gulf kingdom was the first country last week to provide aid to rebel areas in north-western Syria.

Several other planes landed at Damascus airport on Tuesday, carrying aid provided by United Nations agencies, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.

The UN's World Health Organization (WHO) brought first-aid supplies, medical supplies to treat pneumonia, as well as tents, SANA reported.

Activists and the opposition have repeatedly criticized the delay in deliveries of aid for the rebel-held region.

According to the WHO, around 5 million people in Syria have been affected by the earthquake, which struck the Turkish-Syrian border region with a magnitude of 7.7.

Some 5,900 have died in Syria, according to WHO figures.

The total number of confirmed dead is now more than 37,500.