ISTANBUL/HATAY, Türkiye -- The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria has surpassed 17,000, according to latest data.

The death toll in Türkiye from the earthquakes has reached 14,014 with 63,794 injured, media reported on Thursday, citing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In Syria, at least 1,581 were killed in government-held areas, and the death toll in the opposition-held region is 1,975, according to media reports. (Türkiye-Syria-Earthquakes)

- - - -

UNITED NATIONS -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called for great attention to the flow of weapons and ammunition into the conflict region, which could pose proliferation risks.

Quoting UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu as indicating that the flow of weapons and ammunition into the conflict region may bring about proliferation risks, Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said that "relevant parties should pay great attention thereto, adopt strict control measures, prevent the proliferation of weapons and ammunition, particularly stop them from falling in the hands of terrorists and armed groups, and avoid creating new instability in a greater geographic region." (UN-Ukraine-Weapons)

- - - -

JAKARTA -- Four people were killed and three others were injured after a 5.2-magnitude earthquake destroyed several office buildings, houses, a hospital and other buildings in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua on Thursday, officials and the weather agency said.

The country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency had first reported the quake with a magnitude of 5.4 before revising it. (Indonesia-Earthquake-Casualties)

- - - -

ANKARA -- The United Nations' first convoy of aid crossed from Türkiye to Syria's northwestern Idlib province on Thursday, three days after the devastating earthquake, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.

Six truckloads of aid entered the Bab al-Hawa border crossing through the Cilvegozu border gate in Türkiye's southern Hatay province, the news agency reported. (UN-Aid-Syria).