Syria’s envoy to the United Nations on Monday dismissed as fabrications reports that civilians were dying of starvation in a town besieged by government forces.
Advertisement
Pawel Krzysiek, spokesperson for the Red Cross in Syria, told Al Jazeera on January 11 that aid convoys have started to enter Madaya. “We must have unfettered, direct humanitarian access so that the people of Madaya – and all Syrians in need – receive deliveries of lifesaving supplies”, says Proud.
Vital aid has arrived at the besieged Syrian town of Madaya.
They also told him that before negotiations, Assad’s government, which has military support from Russian Federation and Iran, must halt the bombardment of civilian areas and barrel bombing, and release detainees in line with the resolution.
The areas included in the latest agreement were all part of a local cease-fire deal agreed in September, but implementation has been halting, with some fighting around Madaya despite the truce.
An AFP correspondent who reached Madaya with the aid convoy said the town s streets were deserted, with only a service station open.
“This has to be just a start”, said New Zealand’s U.N. Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen, who called for the Security Council meeting with Spain.
Hezbollah and its supporters, however, blamed the rebels for Madaya’s plight, contending that opposition gunmen had in effect held the town hostage, barring the departure of residents and hoarding supplies from October, when the last aid shipment entered Madaya.
The Red Cross says food and medical supplies have reached the towns as part of an agreement between the warring sides in Syria.
“Almost 42,000 people remaining in Madaya are at risk of further hunger and starvation”, the UN’s refugee agency said in a statement.
Before the aid delivery, which was overseen by the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, residents said they have survived by eating stray cats and dogs and foraging for leaves and grass, even as plummeting temperatures made foraging harder.
The trucks are carrying food, water, infant formula, blankets and medication for acute and chronic illnesses, as well as surgical supplies.
“The tactic of siege and starvation is one of the most appalling characteristics of the Syrian conflict”, van Bohemen said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, said that the vehicles from the Red Cross, Red Crescent and the United Nations entered the town in order to prepare for trucks carrying the aid. While Madaya, located near the Lebanese border, has been under siege by pro-government forces since July, Kefraya and al-Foua are two Shia villages surrounded by rebel groups in northern Syria.
The UN’s World Food Programme has said it will ship one month’s worth of food for more than 40,000 people to Madaya from Damascus, and enough for 20,000 people to Foua and Kfarya from the city of Homs.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said “full access” to besieged towns is needed, urging all parties to cooperate.
Advertisement
The United Nations estimates some 400,000 people are living under siege in 15 areas across Syria and have limited access to food.
