The operation agreed on by the warring sides, and undertaken jointly by the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent, to provide enough food for one month was only a first step, El Hillo said.
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Speaking shortly after the delivery of aid, Syria’s ambassador to the UN, Bashar al-Jaafari, accused rebel groups of looting aid and Turkish authorities of obstructing deliveries.
“For people who have been starving, this is going to finish very quickly, so we must be able to continue delivering humanitarian assistance to people in these besieged communities on a continuous basis”, he said.
“It must stop”, he said.
Malik said people were so hungry that they “repeatedly mentioned that a kilo of rice would cost $300 (275 euros)”.
“Food, medical items, blankets and other materials are being delivered by convoy to the towns of Madaya in Rural Damascus, and Foua and Kefraya near the city of Idleb”.
Last week, the United Nations said only 10 per cent of its requested aid deliveries to hard-to-reach and besieged areas of Syria previous year were approved and carried out.
“We’ve tried again and again to get permission from the different parties on the ground”.
“There are people in Madaya, but there is no life, the situation is frightful. We are asking for mobile clinics and medical teams to be dispatched”, said Elizabeth Hoff, WHO’s representative in Damascus who went into Madaya on Monday. “We want to make sure that these sieges are lifted”.
The agreement foresaw an end to hostilities in the four towns in exchange for humanitarian aid and some evacuations. Shortages of food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel have led to malnutrition and deaths among vulnerable groups.
More than 260 000 people have died in Syria’s conflict, which has evolved from anti-government protests to a bloody war that diplomatic efforts have thus far failed to resolve.
The simultaneous aid supplies were arranged under a UN-sponsored deal between government and rebel forces.
On Tuesday, the army and National Defence Forces militia took full control from rebels of the strategic town of Salma, in the northwestern province of Latakia. They also received deliveries from Monday’s convoy.
The army’s command described Salma as “the main operational centre for terrorist groups” in the area and its recapture was an “important accomplishment”. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and rebels opposed to his rule battle each other – as well as jihadist militants from Islamic State.
Imad Salamey, a professor of political science at the Lebanese American University, said the objective of such blockades by pro-government forces is generally to drive out fighters and their sympathizers – who are generally members of Syria’s majority population of Sunni Muslims – from areas that are deemed strategic for Assad.
Elsewhere in Syria, at least 14 children and five adults, one of them a teacher, were killed when a Russian air strike hit their school in the west of Aleppo province, the Observatory reported.
Along with Spain, New Zealand today called for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to hold consultation behind closed doors on the situation in Madaya and other besieged areas in the country.
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Staffan de Mistura is trying to shore up support for planned peace talks later this month between Damascus and the opposition.
