Aid convoy enters militant-held suburb of Damascus
Dozens of trucks carrying humanitarian aid have entered a militant-held suburb of Syria’s capital city of Damascus as part of a UN-sponsored deal to facilitate delivery of desperately-needed food and medicine to trapped areas.
Pawel Krzysiek, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said in a statement on Wednesday that 29 trucks carried relief aid for some 10,000 people in Harasta in Eastern Ghouta.
The convoy of trucks carried food, hygiene equipment, birth delivery kits, school supplies and medicine destined for the northeastern suburb’s entire population of around 10,000 people.
"For the ICRC, it is the first aid delivery to the area since 2012," the spokesman said.
The delivery is part of a deal sealed earlier between the Damascus government and the militants and sponsored by the United Nations. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) is cooperating with the United Nations on the aid deliveries.
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.
The Syrian government has, however, voiced concern that militants in the troubled areas could withhold food from needy citizens.
In recent weeks, security situation has worsened across Ghouta region due to ongoing militant infighting between the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam militant group and the Faylaq al-Rahman group, which is led by al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front. The ongoing infighting has claimed lives of more than 500 since late April.
Damascus has long been saying that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar are funding and arming anti-Syria terrorist groups, including Daesh Takfiri terrorists.
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict that has gripped Syria since March 2011. The conflict has also displaced over half of the Arab country’s pre-war population of about 23 million.
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