Aid convoys head to besieged Syria towns

DAMASCUS — Aid convoys carrying food, medicine and blankets prepared Monday to enter the besieged Syrian town of Madaya, where more than two dozen people have reportedly starved to death, an aid official said. The assistance is expected to enter Madaya, which is blockaded by the regime, at the same time as convoys carrying aid for two Syrian towns under rebel siege, Al-Foua and Kefraya. “Trucks carrying aid left to Al-Foua and Kefraya earlier this morning as the route is longer and requires more coordination,” International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesman Pawel Krzysiek said. “The convoy for Madaya has now begun moving.” An AFP journalist at the scene confirmed the convoy that had gathered at a staging point on the Damascus-Beirut highway was now heading for Madaya. Al-Foua and Kefraya are more than 300 kilometers (180 miles) from Damascus, while Madaya is around 40 kilometers from the capital. The aid deliveries are being organized by the ICRC, Syria’s Red Crescent, the United Nations and the World Food Program. They include food, milk for children, blankets, and medicine for acute and chronic illness, as well as surgical supplies. Krzysiek said 21 trucks were headed for Al-Foua and Kefraya in the northwestern province of Idlib, where some 20,000 people are under rebel siege. Another 44 trucks were headed to Madaya, in Damascus province, where 42,000 people are reportedly suffering from severe food and medical shortages. The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said over the weekend that at least 28 people have died of starvation in Madaya since Dec. 1. The group initially said 23 people had died at an MSF-supported local medical facility. On Sunday it tweeted news of five further deaths, including that of a nine-year-old boy. “MSF-supported medics in the besieged town have 10 critical starvation patients needing urgent hospitalization,” the group tweeted on Sunday. It added that “200 more malnourished patients could become critical and in need of hospitalization within a week if aid doesn’t arrive.” The three towns, along with Zabadani next to Madaya, were part of a landmark six-month deal reached in September for an end to hostilities in those areas in exchange for humanitarian assistance. But aid has not entered Madaya since October, and residents and rights groups have raised the alarm about deteriorating conditions inside. Government forces have been able to airlift some supplies into Al-Foua and Kefraya, but rebel forces are not able to do the same for Madaya. Most of those in the town are civilians, including residents of Zabadani who fled fighting in the town. Doctors inside Madaya, home to 40,000 residents, said five more people died of starvation on Sunday, including a nine-year-old boy, according to news agencies. Last month, at least 23 people died of starvation inside the town amid pleas for the fast delivery of aid. Blockades have been a common feature of the nearly five-year-old war that has killed an estimated 250,000 people. Government forces have besieged rebel-held areas near Damascus for several years and more recently rebel groups have blockaded loyalist areas including two villages in Idlib province. The fate of Madaya may be linked to those villages. The areas were all part of a local ceasefire agreement agreed in September but implementation has been halting. — Agencies