Aid convoys enter three besieged towns in Syria

[Aramagedon]

Aid convoys carrying food, medicine and blankets, leave the Syrian capital Damascus as they head to the besieged town of Madaya on January 11, 2015. (AFP photo)

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid have finally entered three besieged towns in Syria as part of an agreement between Damascus and the militants to allow delivery of desperately-needed food and medicine into the areas.

Witnesses said on Monday that a convoy was allowed into Madaya just 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the capital Damascus after government forces was ensured that a separate convoy will enter Foua and Kfarya, two rural towns in the northwestern Idlib Province, which have been under siege by the militants.

Syria’s official news agency, SANA, said earlier in the day that the trucks had set off from Damascus and reached the outskirts of the three towns. The delivery is part of a deal sealed last week between the government and the militants and sponsored by the United Nations.

Sources said 40 trucks were set to reach each of the two locations in the northwest of Syria, carrying enough supplies to last a month.

Reports have emerged over the past few days claiming that several people have died of starvation in Madaya, most of them patients. Pro-government sources have rejected the claims, saying militants in the area have withheld food from needy citizens.

Syrians wait for the arrival of an aid convoy on January 11, 2016 in the besieged town of Madhaya as part of a landmark six-month deal reached in September for an end to hostilities in those areas in exchange for humanitarian assistance. (AFP photo)

Residents of Madaya have told journalists that anti-government militants fighting inside the town hoarded a previous consignment of aid in October selling them to residents at exorbitant prices.

The situation in Foua and Kfarya could be as dire as Madaya, although media have barely covered the siege story of the two places, instead focusing on Madaya which has been encircled by government forces and allies.

The deal to allow humanitarian assistance into the three Syrian towns comes two weeks before a round of peace talks between the government and the opposition are scheduled to take place in the Swiss city of Geneva.


Iran, Switzerland and Syria coordinate on humanitarian aid for the Syrian people – Syrian Arab News Agency

A meeting was held in Tehran on Wednesday between Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdullahian, Syrian Adviser to Foreign and Expatriates Minister Ahmad Arnous, and Vice-Director and delegate for humanitarian aid at Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) Manuel Bessler, in which they discussed the latest developments in Syria and means to deliver humanitarian aid to Syrian people, in addition to discussing inter-Syrian dialogue and developments in the region.

Abdullahian said during the meeting that Saudi Arabia’s decision to sever relations with Iran will affect inter-Syria talks, but Tehran is committed to these talks and will spare no efforts to go ahead with negotiations with UN officials and the Syrian government and hopes that the Saudi government will learn required lesson from history, describing the Saudi decision as an “irrational and unwise decision.”

In turn, Arnous affirmed that Saudi, Qatari and Turkish regimes are going ahead in their support to terrorist organizations, and this leads to the spread of terrorism in the Middle East region, adding that the main reason behind the humanitarian crisis in Syria is the continued support to the terrorist organizations and the unjust economic blockade imposed on Syria.

He added that the Syrian government established in 2012 the Higher Committee for Relief, tasked with the humanitarian aid all over the Syrian territories, affirming that the committee is cooperating with international organizations and NGOs operating in the relief sector.

For his part, Bessler expressed regret over Turkish government’s support to the terrorist organizations in the region which escalated the crisis.

A similar Syrian-Iranian-Swiss meeting was held in September 2015 in Tehran to discuss coordination about the humanitarian aid for the Syrian people, and that time Syria was represented by Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Fayssal Mikdad.