BEIRUT A humanitarian convoy reached a starved suburb of Syrias capital for the first time since 2012 on Wednesday but did not bring any food, as the opposition called for a countrywide cease-fire for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and aid access for all Syrians.
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Last month the United Nations warned if it did not see improvement on aid access to besieged areas by June 1, it would task the World Food Programme to carry out air drops of assistance in Syria.
Last week U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien told the 15-nation Security Council the Syrian government and militant groups continued to block access to besieged areas, where almost 600,000 people are trapped. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, however, said he believed air drops were impractical and that the land deliveries should be given a chance.
A convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid on Wednesday entered the militant-held town of Darayya in Syria as part of a UN-sponsored deal to facilitate the delivery of desperately-needed food and medicine to trapped areas.
Government forces have blockaded Daraya since residents expelled security forces during the early stages of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad.
Last month a United Nations convoy was turned away at the final checkpoint before reaching Daraya because soldiers refused to let baby milk into the town, de Mistura’s humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said.
The ISSG humanitarian taskforce are due to meet on Thursday, according to Ms Kodmari, to review progress on getting aid to more than a million needy people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas.
In a letter sent to the United Nations secretary-general on Wednesday, HNC chief Riad Hijab called for a “comprehensive” Ramadan cease-fire as a precondition for resuming talks in July.
Syrian opposition negotiator Basma Kodmani said the aid to Daraya and nearby Mouadamiya, another besieged zone, was only a first step that had come about as a result of extreme worldwide pressure on the Syrian government, and substantial change was still needed.
On Monday night, the national hospital in the opposition-held Idlib city was put out of service after multiple air strikes hit the area, killing at least two dozen civilians in the latest attack on health services in the conflict. The campaign aims to surround and isolate the extremist group’s de-facto capital, Raqqa. “Daesh is using its entire means to stop the forces”, he told the AP by telephone from near the front line, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym.
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In April, the United Nations said at least 4,000 people were besieged in Darayya by Syrian government forces. The monitoring group, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, said coalition airstrikes supporting the advance have killed 15 civilians in the past 24 hours. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes this week between rebel groups and government fighters on the outskirts of Darayya. Kodmani said they should not be fooled by the Syrian government allowing in one convoy “to defuse the pressure”.
