A plane has dropped the first cargo of aid to the Syrian city of Deir el-Zour, the UN humanitarian chief said.

Stephen O'Brien told the UN Security Council that 21 tons of aid were dropped on the city which is surrounded by the extremist Islamic State group early on Wednesday.

He said initial reports from Syrian Arab Red Crescent teams on the ground say the pallets landed in the target area.

Mr O'Brien said the UN and its partners have reached 110,000 people in besieged areas and have approval to reach a further 230,000 people, including through air drops in Deir el-Zour.

But he said the UN is still waiting for approval to reach 170,000 additional people in besieged areas and "we expect those approvals to happen immediately".

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