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Militant-held town in Syria receives aid convoy

Wednesday, 17 February 2016 6:51 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 17 February 2016 6:50 PM ]

Aid convoys prepare to enter Mu’adamiyat al-Sham, a militant-held town on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, February 17, 2016. (AFP photo)

The Syrian Red Crescent says a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid has arrived in the militant-held town of Mu’adamiyat al-Sham on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.

"The convoy has begun to enter Mu’adamiyat al-Sham. There are 35 trucks carrying 8,800 sacks of flour, 4,400 food parcels, high energy foods and medical equipment," the Red Crescent's Muhannad al-Asadi told AFP on Wednesday.

The convoy is the first aid delivery since world powers agreed upon cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access across the country.

On February 12, the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting in the German city of Munich agreed to seek a nationwide “cessation of hostilities” and to accelerate and expand aid deliveries. The deal is due to come into force later this week.

The ISSG said in a statement that the planned ceasefire in Syria does not include areas held by groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations Security Council, including Daesh and the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front.

Damascus has pledged full cooperation with the UN and the Red Cross to deliver humanitarian aid to all civilians “without any discrimination,” including those in hard-to-reach areas.

Syrian government forces stand next to a UNHCR aid convoy ahead of entering Mu’adamiyat al-Sham, a militant-held town on the outskirts of Damascus, February 17, 2016. (AFP photo)

Meanwhile, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Yacoub El Hillo, said aid dispatched to the towns of Mu’adamiyat al-Sham, Dayr al-Zawr, Madaya, Zabadani and Kafr Batna on Wednesday was enough for 93,000 people.

"Today, aid for 30,000 people will enter Mu’adamiyat al-Sham. Other aid will be enough for one month for 42,000 in Madaya, and close to 1,000 in Zabadani," Hillo said.

He added that the Shia towns of Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib Province will receive aid enough for 20,000 people.

The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has claimed the lives of some 470,000 people and left 1.9 million injured, according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research.

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