Aid convoy enters rebel-held area near Syrian capital

Beirut — A convoy carrying medical aid on Saturday entered the besieged rebel-controlled Douma area, a flashpoint near the Syrian capital, the Red Crescent said. The aid consists of medicines and also milk for children, said Syrian Red Crescent director of operations Hazem Bakla, quoted by state news agency SANA. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed the aid delivery to Douma in the Eastern Ghouta, a rebel stronghold east of Damascus besieged since 2013. According to UN figures, some 486,700 people in Syria currently live in areas besieged by either government or rebel forces. Scores are reported to have died of malnutrition or because of a lack of medical treatment. On Friday, the world body said it hoped to deliver aid to people in besieged Syrian cities “without delay”, after world powers agreed a plan to cease hostilities in the war-wracked country. — AFP