The Syrian president Bashar al-Assad appealed on Monday for international aid to rebuild the areas of his country destroyed by the earthquake, during a meeting with the UN emergency coordinator, the Syrian presidency announced.

Damascus has been isolated on the diplomatic scene since the civil war that erupted following the violent suppression of a popular uprising against the government in 2011. This isolation has complicated international efforts to advance aid to victims of the February 6 earthquake.

President Assad “underlined the importance of international efforts aimed at helping to rebuild infrastructure in Syria,” according to the presidency’s statement.

At the same time, the White Helmets, the Syrian rescue group, announced that the dead in northwestern Syria from the earthquake amounted to 2,274, according to the latest count. They said their figures of more than 12,400 injured have been cross-checked with medical sources.

Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, also met today in Damascus with the head of Syrian diplomacy Faisal Mokdad. He had earlier traveled to Aleppo, a city in northern Syria held by government forces, where the earthquake left more than 200,000 homeless, according to the World Health Organization.

In Aleppo, Griffiths told the press that the UN intends to raise money for organizations helping Syrians. “The appeals we will make in the coming days – one for Syria and one for Turkey – will cover humanitarian needs for almost three months,” he said.

“”The sky was raining stones”. The trauma of the people I met in Aleppo, Syria was palpable. My parents said they lost their children and saw their houses collapse in last week’s earthquake. We need to mobilize funds to provide aid to people across Syria.”the United Nations official pointed out on his Twitter account.

At least 31,643 people have been killed by two strong earthquakes in Turkey, AFAD, the country’s disaster agency, announced on Monday. In northwest Syria the death toll today stands at 4,300 according to UN officials, with the death toll reaching 35,943. In Syria, 5.3 million people, according to the UN, are at risk of being homeless.

Despite sanctions hitting Damascus, government-held areas of Syria receive international aid through UN agencies, many of which have offices in the Syrian capital.

But aid has taken time to reach Syria, where nearly 12 years of war have weakened the health system and several areas remain under rebel control.

Griffiths admitted on Sunday that the UN has so far left the people of northwestern Syria to their own devices.

Before the earthquake, almost all humanitarian aid destined for the more than four million people living in the rebel-held areas of northwestern Syria arrived from Turkey through the Bab al-Hawa crossing point.

That aid transfer was interrupted by the earthquake before resuming on Thursday, amid growing calls for the reopening and other crossing points.